The Way You Look Tonight
by WeasleyWizardingWheezes12
Summary: A scandal caused her to leave so many years ago. Now fate brings him together. Can she handle telling him the truth, and can he handle hearing it? DH non epilogue compliant, GW/HG
1. The One With the Prologue

(A/N) Hey guys, I know I have a nasty habit of not completing my stories, but it is up to you to provide me with motivation. This story I have been planning for several years, even before Fred's death became canon. (sob) but I hope you enjoy it, please leave a review or how will I know that I should continue? Hugs and Kisses! :D

-WWW12

She stared incredulously at the stick in front of her. It couldn't be, it just couldn't be. They had taken every precaution, casted every spell known, taken potions. She couldn't understand how or where such a dire miscalculation could have taken place. She clutched the small stick as if it were her life, the one little plus sign on the top of it her death sentence. She tried to cry, but the tears just wouldn't come. The shock and the repercussions of all of her actions hit her.

_Stupid, stupid. _She thought to herself as she pulled out her wand and transfigured the small object into a tissue and then proceeded to throw it away. She stood up and tried to manage and compose herself but found she could not find the will to move her legs, or anything in that case. She was glued to the back of the toilet seat. She closed her eyes and thought over the past two months, so much had happened, so much had changed.

_You have to tell him you know, _the annoying voice said inside her head. "I know," Hermione said aloud.

"Oh dear," said the mirror, "talking to yourself, this can't be good." She stood up and walked over to the sink and leaned over the mirror.

"What do I do?" She asked forlornly looking at her own reflection.

"What are you doing asking a piece of glass? Ask yourself…oh," the mirror laughed at it's own joke. Hermione rolled her eyes. She opened the faucet and threw cold water over her face.

"Hermione?" Ron's voice called from the living room, "I'm home!" She took one glance at the mirror and put on her best "I'm okay" face and made her way out of the bathroom.

"Hey Ron," she said as she felt him wrapping his arms around her. She weakly put her arms around his waist. He pulled back while still holding her and looked into her eyes.

"Blimey," he said softly. She cocked her head.

"What?"

"You're just—I just keep on forgetting how beautiful you are," he said moving a hair from her cheek to behind her ear. "You're practically glowing." She felt her eyes well up as he made this statement.

"Wow Ronald, you should—you should always leave for two months at a time," she said turning away trying to hold back tears and walking to the kitchen. "Anyways, your mum sent some food for us. She guessed you would be coming here first and that we'd all have brunch there tomorrow, so I warmed some food up for us," she walked over to the kitchen and began pulling plates out of the cabinet while charming the knives, spoons and forks to set themselves up on the table appropriately. Ron walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned over behind her neck as she washed the small film of dust off of the dishes.

"I missed you," he whispered huskily while pressing against her. She closed her eyes and looked up. She forced a smile, turned around and kissed him softly.

"I missed you too," she said, "Now you go shower while I finish preparing the food." Ron sighed.

"Fine 'mione," He said grinning. "This just means that you'll have to make it up to me later." He said exiting the room and taking off his sweater at the same time. Hermione sighed and leaned over the sink, a sudden bout of nausea coming over her. She put a _muffliato_ charm over the kitchen quickly. She spent the next few minutes puking her guts out into the sink, hoping Ron stayed in the shower. She sighed as she still heard the water running after she was finished. She cast a couple of cleaning charms and then cast a spell to take away the smell and hoped it seemed as if nothing had happened. She quickly cast a mouthwash spell over her mouth and then continued to finish preparing dinner. A couple minutes later, Ron came out of the shower dressed in a t-shirt and some boxers. She just put the finishing touches.

"Smells great," he said sitting down. Hermione smiled.

"Yeah, I didn't make it," she said.

"Maybe that's why," he smiled raising an eyebrow and beginning to eat the food in front of him. Hermione kicked him lightly from underneath the table.

"How was--?"

"Auror training, so painful," he said remarking on the last two months the new recruits spent in various conditions abroad in endurance training. "I'm so sore." He said rubbing the back of his neck.

"You look good," Hermione remarked noting how much more muscular he had gotten. Ron smiled.

"So do you," he said reaching over and placing his hand on hers.

"What has gotten into you?" She asked rubbing his thumb thoughtfully.

"You have," he said. She moved her hand away and blushed quickly finishing whatever was left on her plate. She stood up and noticed he had wiped his clean. She held her hand out to take his plate and he sighed. As she put the plates in the sink and then charmed them to wash themselves and put themselves away she felt his arms wrap around her waist once more. He kissed a trail down her neck and his hands fell to her waist. He turned her around and looked into her eyes, he kissed her softly. She responded desperately moving her hands up and down his back, lacing her fingers in his hair. It was all happening quickly in a flash. One moment they were kissing in the kitchen the next they were on the couch, tearing each other's clothes off. Suddenly she stopped.

"I can't," she said standing up, "I can't." She looked at him with sorrowful eyes. He stood up and walked over to her.

"Hermione—"

"No," she said, "Ron, I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry," she cried. He looked at her, concern evident in his eyes.

"What's going on?" he asked. Hermione looked down and shook her head. He walked over to her put his hands on either of her shoulders and sat her down on the couch. "Hermione," he said with more strength in his voice.

"I'm so sorry," she said standing up. She went to the coat closet, put on her coat, grabbed her purse and wallet and before Ron could say her name, she had apparated out of there. Ron sat down on the couch and put his head in his hands and sighed. He did not understand at all what had just happened. He stood up, grabbed some floo.

"Harry Potter's residence," he stated and stuck his head into the fireplace. Ginny and Harry were cuddling closely on the couch while Ginny was reading and Harry was stroking her hair.

"Ahem," said Ron impatiently from the fireplace. They jumped at the sound.

"RON!" Ginny exclaimed. She stood up quickly and walked to the fireplace. "What are you doing here?" She asked.

"I'm coming over," he said sadly. Ginny noted the desperation and urgency in his voice and she nodded. As Ron climbed out of the fireplace, Harry stood up.

"She's gone," he said, "And I don't know why." He was fighting back tears.

"Who's gone, what's going on?" Harry asked concernedly. Ginny put her arms around him and led him over to the couch.

"I mean it happened almost absurdly fast, first I was holding her and kissing her, and suddenly she stopped, said she couldn't and just left." He turned to Ginny and looked at her.

"I know I've been gone for two months, what happened?" He asked her. She looked at him, confusion in her eyes.

"I haven't spoken to her," she said honestly, "I only just got back from Hogwarts." Harry looked down.

"So she was basically alone here," he said, "Maybe she just felt abandoned." He queried. Ron shrugged.

"I sent her letters every day! And she chose not to do the Auror program," he said. Harry shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know Ron," he said, "I would say go home, wait for her, if she doesn't show up tonight, then we'll go from there. But it's late, go get some sleep," he clapped his hand on Ron's back. Suddenly Ron turned towards the two of them and cocked his head.

"If its late, then what are you doing here Ginny. Isn't mum wondering where you are?" He asked. Ginny looked down bashfully.

"I told her I'd be coming home a few days late," she said. "Don't tell mum, okay?" Ron sighed.

"I guess I'll go now," he said shooting a warning look at Harry before departing in a gust of green flames. Harry had his arms around Ginny's waist. They looked at each other.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Well, A couple weeks ago, Hermione sent me a letter saying that she felt like she was in trouble and made a huge mistake," she moved out of Harry's arms and sat on the couch in front of the fireplace, "I met her in Hogsmeade that weekend, she seemed distant and a little worse for wear. But I thought it was only because she was helping George with the store and that in and of itself is, well, stressful. Especially with the way George is—"

"Ginny focus," said Harry snickering a little bit.

"Oh sorry, but anyways, she seemed a little, well very tired and worn out. And she sat down and was extremely confusing, rambling about how she felt like she was betraying everyone she loved and she just didn't know anything anymore and how much things can change in just a matter of a few weeks." She crossed her arms and thought. "I really have no idea," she said. Harry sat down beside her.

"I guess all we can do is wait," he said. They both sat in silence watching the flames crackle, each concerned about their friend.

_Knock knock knock._

"I'm coming! I'm coming," a voice said.

"Hi grandmother"

"Hermione? What are you doing here? And at 6am?"

"I had nowhere else to go, and I'm in trouble," she said running into her grandmother's arms.

"Oh hush now sweetheart, granny's got you," she said stroking her hair. "Now come in." Hermione began to sob.

"I've messed everything up," she said going into the large apartment.

"Okay Hermione, now go upstairs, wash up, and come back down here. I'll make a nice pot of tea and we'll sit in the parlor and talk. Okay?" She asked. Hermione nodded, clutching her small bag.

She had never been here; her grandmother usually visited them in England. She had known that there was a considerable amount of wealth when her grandmother was concerned. She had no idea that her grandmother could afford such a luxurious penthouse suite on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

She walked upstairs and walked into the bathroom. She took out her wand and transfigured herself a toothbrush. There was toothpaste already on the side and she brushed her teeth and washed her hair. She walked out the door and back down the stairs to the parlor where hot tea sat on the coffee table. Her grandmother sat with one cup sipping quietly.

"Have a seat my dear," she said kindly pointing to the couch.

"Thanks Grandma," she said.

"Now tell me, what is going on. Do your parents know that you are here?" Hermione shook her head. Her grandmother nodded. Hermione sat and looked at her cup of tea.

"I just don't know what to do anymore," she said, "I know my parents won't help me, and I know I won't find help back in England, and I just didn't have anywhere else to go—"

"Shh—you can always depend on me," said her Grandmother, "or my name isn't Margaret Granger." She put her hand on Hermione'. "Now tell me Hermione."

"I'm—pregnant," said Hermione. Fresh tears fell from her face. Her grandmother looked down, and looked up again.

"Well, we don't need to make that a mistake, you just need to make the best out of it. When is your due date?" She asked. She looked at Hermione's untouched cup of tea. "I had a feeling you wouldn't want caffeinated, it'll be fine, just drink it, you'll feel better." Hermione took a sip.

"Around August 4th, if I were to guess," she said. Margaret nodded.

"Well, you're only eighteen. I'll enroll you into a university here. You will never have to worry about childcare. No granddaughter of mine is going to waste her intelligence." Hermione looked up incredulously.

"Really?" She asked.

"Your step-grandfather is the dean of New York University. If it's all right with him, we will enrol you for the fall semester. Although from what your parents tell me, you were brilliant in school. One of the brightest young girls of your age," she winked. Hermione looked down and blushed.

"Thank you so much Grandmother," she said, more tears pouring down her face.

"Now I'm going to make a phone call to your parents, and you may want to let your friends know that you're safe. Just so they don't worry. You can tell them at your own time about the baby. Now your room will be up the stairs third door to your left. I'll be just down the hall. Mark is out of town for a few days, but don't worry, he's going to love having you," she smiled and placed her hands on Hermione's cheeks. "It's going to be okay." She said. Hermione smiled and nodded, although that didn't stop that terrible feeling in her gut.

Ron thrust the letter into Harry's hand.

"What is this?" Asked Harry.

"Closure," he said simply. Harry opened and read the letter.

"Dear Ronald. For the past few months I've felt an absence in my life. Somehow in my heart, although I know that I did alright, helping Harry save the world and everything, I felt as if I truly did not think about what I was giving up in the Muggle world. Magic just isn't giving me the same rush that it used to. I feel tired and sick all the time, and rather bored. I feel as if I have gone as far as I have wanted to go, and there is nothing at all left for me, no reason for me to stay. Don't get me wrong, I do now, and will always miss you dearly. –Yours, Hermione" Harry concluded.

"I'm so sorry, I don't know what to say," said Harry. Ron had his arm against the doorframe and was leaning against it.

"Nothing," he said. "Lets just get pissed tonight," he laughed. Harry grinned.

"Alright, you coming into the office?"

"I get Mondays off remember?" Said Ron, "I'm going to go see if George needs any help at the store. He was obviously trying to be much more composed than he was.

"Go home Ron," said Harry, "George will be fine for a day." Ron shook his head.

"I need to be doing something," he said. "I really can't be alone." Harry nodded understandingly. If Ginny ever walked out on him, he knew he would not be able to go on.

WWW

"How's Hermione?" George asked counting inventory in the storefront. He had his brows furrowed as he did the math in his head and took note of what they had to restock and how much.

"She left," said Ron curtly.

"Left?"

"Left," replied Ron. "She's gone." George widened his eyes.

"Where did she go?" He asked.

"I don't know," said Ron. He finished his inventory shelves and went to help George restock.

"I'm going to go into the back and check something real quick," said George. He walked over to the back pantry. He closed his eyes and sat on the ground while his back was leaning against the door. He rubbed his eyes with and put his head in his hands. He didn't know if he could do the grand opening anymore. He had depended on her; he had counted on her. He put his head in his hands. _Stupid,_ he thought to himself. He knew it wouldn't be a good idea but she had pushed it so far. He heard a knock at the door. He quickly grabbed a crate of pygmy puffs and opened the door. Ron was visibly upset. George handed him the crate of pygmy puffs.

"They go on the left shelf by the puking pastilles," he said handing him the crate. Ron grunted in agreement and left George alone. George leaned against the wall and thought.

The look on Ron's face was enough to cause him to realize the far-reaching consequences of his actions. He couldn't ask too many questions about Hermione, or else Ron would ask questions. No one could know what was going on for the past two months. Nobody. Even they agreed it would never ever be spoken of again. But he had lost too much, and losing her as a friend was almost too hard to bear. He walked into the small office he had made for himself in the past few weeks in the back of the store. A bunch of letters sat on the desk waiting for him to be read, most of them were bills, newsletters, a daily prophet was stuck in there until he hit an envelope which was different than the rest. He opened the first one from April Fool's Inc.

Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasley.

Hello, my name is Adam Richards, and I am the C.E.O. and founder for April Fool's Inc, a high quality joke and novelty corporation based in New York City. We have been trying to go overseas for several years but have not yet been able to secure the funds nor made the right alliances. For several years, I have been watching your profits and shares rise increasingly and feel that a merger between our two great companies should be in order. In observing your companies I would like to propose an offer. You would still operate under your name; you would just be a part of our corporation. This means almost nothing to you except that your profits would increase exponentially, you would be on our board of directors, and money would never be a problem to you. So really it's a win-win situation.

Please send me an owl and I would love to set up a time to meet with one or both of you to discuss logistics. Please think about this offer if your are considering to decline.

Signed,

Adam Richards

CEO

April Fools Inc.

Ron knocked and opened the door.

"It's almost 10," he said, "we'll open up soon?" George nodded.

"Cathy and Malina here?" He asked. Ron nodded.

"Go home, get some rest, you look like shit." He said forcing a grin. Ron smiled.

"Me and Harry are going to have drinks at Leaky tonight, you in?" He asked. George looked down.

"I don't know," he said, "If I'm there, I'm in, if I'm not, then—well"

"I'll figure it out," said Ron. George stood up.

"Thank you for the help," he said hugging Ron tightly. Ron hugged him back.

"No problem, I know Hermione was supposed to help you, so I didn't want to leave you without a paddle on your first day. You need help opening up tomorrow? I could take a mad early lunch…an hour after I'm supposed to be at work," said Ron grinning. George noted how obviously forced it seemed, and then realized that his, likewise was also forced. They laughed awkwardly and it trailed off into an unbearable silence. "He should have been here," said Ron. George nodded. Ron put his arm on George's shoulder.

"He was my brother too," said Ron. George looked up at him. "I miss him." George nodded smiling. He put his arm around Ron and they both walked out into the storefront.

"Its what he would have wanted. He would have hated me for closing the shop down for as long as I did," said George. "I'm thinking of hiring some researchers and inventors." He turned to Ron who turned to him with shock.

"Bu—you—I"

"I just don't have the heart for it anymore," said George. Ron looked down.

"Yeah, okay," he said. "Do whatever you feel is right." George was stunned, the past few months had really changed and matured his younger brother, not to mention all that occurred during the war. George grinned sadly as his brother walked out the door.

--Four months later—

"And you are now a partner in April Fools, congratulations," said Adam shaking George's hand. In the past few months George had gone from being on the board of directors to being made a partner. He had a knack for business and transformed the company from a small national corporation into a larger one. He used Adam's initial idea and expanded across the globe in a few short months. George waited for the picture to be taken and then sat down at the long table, ready for the panel to begin.

"Hey Weasley," said Tom Greenspurn. "Congratulations. Welcome to the team." He was a small balding man with a very amicable face. He was in charge of Research and Development, finding out what trends were in and managing a small group of inventors.

"Thank you," said George smiling. This was the only way he could even contemplate moving on. Burying himself in work was what he did. He gave up Weasley Wizarding Wheezes, and hired a very apt person to manage the store. He now would be in charge of overseeing sales in the Western European and American markets, and he had offices in Paris, London, Milan, New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. He rarely ever saw his family anymore and rarely had a moment to himself. But for now, that was all right. It kept his mind off of other things.

After the panel meeting, the board of directors hosted a reception for all of the clients and businessmen at that meeting. George held a glass of red wine and stared out the window as the rest of the city. This office building was in the wizarding part of New York, in the downtown area of Manhattan by Wall Street. He had an unobstructed view of the statue of liberty from this window. It was raining outside. He watched the raindrops slide across the glass in various patterns when a very pretty girl interrupted his thoughts.

"Hey," she said, "Congratulations." George turned to her and nodded curtly. She stuck her hand out. "I'm Jill, Jill Fairbanks," she said waiting for a handshake. George nodded gruffly and shook her hand.

"George Weasley," he said. She looked at him and smiled.

"I like this song," she said waving back to the DJ. There was an awkward silence until she looked up, "Do you want to dance?" She asked.

"Not really," said George. She looked down and looked back up at him and quickly walked away. George sighed and put his glass down on a waiter's tray. He walked over to the boss, shook his hand, and walked out of the reception. It wasn't something he was ever in the mood for, nor did he see the point. He walked out of the building, crossed two alleys and entered muggle New York.

The Wall Street area was bustling with people; the streets were covered with snow—well more like slush. He took long quick strides, not really watching out for people in front of him, and they quickly noticed and got out of his way. He was staying at a small hotel in Midtown, but since Manhattan had such a high concentration of muggles, it was against the law to apparate within the bounds of the city. He walked the steps down to the metro and ran into a young woman.

"Watch where you're going," he said gruffly. Her purse scattered all over the floor and with a little trouble she leaned down to pick her stuff up. Usually he wouldn't care, but for some reason, he felt an obligation to the young woman. "Let me help you," he said leaning down. He held onto a small card and handed it over to her.

"I don't need your help," she said looking up and taking her card. Her eyes widened. George realized instantly who she was. He grabbed her arm and just as he did, a huge crowd of people from the arriving train walked up the steps and she soon disappeared into the crowd. He closed his eyes in disdain and tried to run after her, following her, but it was too late, there was no knowing where she went off to. Sighing, he walked through the turnstiles and boarded the train.

Hermione had taken that moment to run and hide behind a pole, she had lost the energy to outrun him so she thought if it looked like she disappeared into the crowd, he would stop. She could never see him again, not after what had happened. She grabbed her purse and walked out of the subway into the streets, she headed to the bookstore where she was working for the time being.

She made the right decision and she knew it. If Ron knew what had happened in the two months he was away, he would never speak to her or George again. George would lose another brother and he had enough emotional turmoil to deal with as is, a child brought into that equation would have just made it way too much. A small tear began to cascade down her cheek. She thought back to the past four months as she entered the bookstore.

"Good morning Hermione," said Corin, a small South Korean girl working at the cash register.

"Have the new shipments come in yet?" Asked Hermione. Corin shook her head.

"They are coming in tomorrow. So basically you have nothing to do today." She giggled. Hermione worked in the back doing inventory, it was her favorite job, plus she could track down what books to read, or not to read.

"I'll just go in the back and read, let me know if you need help up here," she said going into the storeroom. The past four months had been a welcome break, her grandmother treated her like royalty. She knew that as long as her grandmother stood by her side, she'd never have to worry about a thing. She put a hand on her stomach feeling the slight bulge. After the baby came, she would go get a muggle education and then just try and provide the best life for her little girl or little boy possible. She smiled. Even through all the bleakness, through all the drama, she would have a wonderful presence with her for the rest of her life. She would have a baby.


	2. The One Where Hermione is a Doctor

Chapter 1

_November 15, 2008_

_Buzz buzz buzz, _the alarm clock rang. She groaned in her covers as she contemplated getting up. Almost on cue, the small pager on the nightstand went off. She popped up on instinct, grabbed the pager and ran out the door of the on-call room and headed to the north of the hospital. Another third-year resident joined her.

"What's the call?" She asked.

"I don't know Margaret, it just multi, emergency room stat," said Hermione checking to make sure she had all of her things and had grabbed the correct lab coat.

"Ooooh, I just love it when it starts to snow," said Margaret referring to the rise of surgeries that occur due to drunk driving plus ice. Hermione sighed.

"That's an awful thing to say!"

"But we get surgeries!" Said Margaret. "We make them feel better!" Hermione nodded.

"I guess so," she said.

"And they get knocked out of their stupidity, so really we're performing a public service," she said as they entered the emergency room.

"Holy—" said Hermione looking at the commotion in front of her. She ran over to her attending.

"Dr. Wright, what the hell is going on?" She asked.

"Multi-car pileup in the Lincoln Tunnel. There's more coming. Granger, you stay right here with this patient. Find an intern to get the general information and contact his family. Then come find me. I have an OR booked in an hour, he should be fine until then." Hermione nodded and looked down at the patient. The man looked absolutely awful, she noticed swelling in his chest, most likely due to rib fractures from airbags, his face was filled with shards of glass, and his legs were crushed. He was conscious and seemed able to speak a little bit.

"Sir, what is your name?" She asked slowly.

"Ian, Ian Thomas," he said. "What happened, where am I?"

"Mr. Thomas, do you have family?" Asked Hermione. She spotted one of her interns and waved them over.

"Dr. Richards will be taking care of you from now on," she said. She looked at Christine.

"Get his information, call his family and let them know he's here," she said. Christine nodded. Hermione turned around and spotted Dr. Wright. He nodded as Hermione went over to him.

"Now listen," he said amongst the hubbub, "This guy is probably the worst, I need you to be strong. I just paged the chief and told him we're coming to the OR," he said. "Just don't stare, and lets just hope for the best," he said. She nodded and opened the door to the trauma room. She looked at the patient and noticed he was lying on his side. Her eyes were then drawn immediately to the giant shard of glass impaling him, cutting in through one part of his body and coming out through the other side.

"How is he still alive?" Someone asked behind her as she stood there in shock. She walked up to him and put a cool compress on his forehead. He was yelling out in pain but Hermione could no longer hear any other sounds. She was focused entirely on him. She focused on the small situations while Dr. Wright went to go look at various x-ray scans taken earlier of his mid-section. She focused on getting shards of glass out of his arms and legs.

"Sir, I'll need you to calm down," she said, "We're going to get this thing out of you as soon as possible." He stopped screaming and nodded a little, perspiration trailing its way down his face. She wiped the sweat off and looked into his eyes. "You'll be fine," she said. "Trust me." Dr. Wright came back a few seconds later.

"Got anything?" She asked. He looked at her and nodded.

"He's a lucky one, that glass managed to just move all of his internal organs to the side and block the bleeding. For now its' acting as the compress. We can't take the whole thing out too quickly or else he'll bleed out. We're going to get someone to cut the glass as close to his body as we possibly can and then try and operate around it. It's going to be long; it's going to be messy. I'll need all hands on deck," he said. Hermione nodded.

"Yes," she said.

"Good, now go scrub in, you're assisting me on this surgery," he said. "Also call Markson, and Foreman, tell them they're scrubbing in as well." Hermione nodded and exited the room while someone with a glasscutter went in. She winced as she heard him scream some more. She headed down to OR 3 and after paging the other two residents began the process of changing out of these scrubs into her surgical ones. She put the surgical cap on as the other two residents entered the room. They looked extremely tired and pissed off.

"Hey," she said.

"4am," said Lisa Foreman getting into a set of scrubs. Hermione nodded.

"Tell me about it, I haven't seen my daughter in like two days," she said.

"She with your mother this whole weekend?" Eric Markson asked. Hermione nodded.

"Yep," she said.

"When do you get to go home?" He asked.

"Well I'm getting off night duty, I get to go home right after this surgery," she smiled. Both of them sighed. Being a resident was tough. As soon as all of them finished scrubbing in, the patient was rolled in. The glass had been cut to about an inch above the skin, giving Dr. Wright plenty of room to operate.

"Alright kids," he said with a smile, "Here we go." He grinned. "Luckily the glass missed his spine all together, so we have avoided the worst of it."

There was a scoff at the back of the room. Dr. Wright gave them a look.

"Now if we just go at it slowly, we can pull this shard out and then he'll go back to being alive."

Four hours later they were scrubbing out of the surgery. Hermione leaned over the sink as Dr. Wright washed his hands beside her. Lisa and Eric were already on their way to rounds.

"Tough day," he said. He looked a little bit like a stereotypical soap opera doctor, brown hair with flecks of grey, green eyes and a captivating smile. He had been first in his class at Johns Hopkins and had been the general surgeon attending at New York Mercy Memorial Hospital West for a few years. He turned and smiled at Hermione.

"You okay kid?" He asked. She nodded.

"Just a little tired," she said. He smiled.

"Go home," he said. "You did good today," he clapped her on the back.

She smiled and nodded walking out into the hallway. "Don't work too hard," she said heading upstairs to the locker rooms when she ran into her best friend at the hospital.

"Hey Mia," her friend said with a grin. Hermione smiled.

"Hey Jenny," she said.

"Getting in or coming out," asked Jenny.

"Getting out," said Hermione

"I'm off to rounds with my babies," Jenny said referring to her interns, "But I have stories to tell you later." She walked away.

"Excited to hear them!" Hermione exclaimed as she entered the locker room. Hermione walked into the locker room to change out of her scrubs and into street clothes. She sighed thinking about the long walk and subway ride back to her parent's house and then to hers. These were the moments she really missed magic. She hated that she had left the world but it was truly for the best. Her daughter deserved the best possible home and care and staying would not have given it to her. She smiled as she looked at a picture of her daughter taped on the inside of the locker. She had curly auburn hair and looked almost exactly like Hermione except a brown tinge to her hair. She blew a kiss to the picture and headed downstairs where she entered the streets of New York.

She looked up outside at the snow falling down and headed the four blocks to her parents' apartment. She admired them so much for putting up with her for the past ten years, especially through the long nights that she was up studying. She had been scared of their reaction—that was why she did not initially tell them. Little did she know how they truly would respond.

10 years ago.

"Oh my god mom," said Hermione opening the door. Her mom was none too happy, and neither was her father. They walked in quickly and shut the door.

"And what do you think you're doing here," her mother asked, "here we thought you had bought your own flat and become an adult and then we find out you run away just like that?" Her father looked at her silently. Tears threatened to pour down Hermione's face. She looked down at the ground. Her mom held her shoulders and looked at her.

"Honey. If there's a problem, talk to us, you know we love you no matter what. Just tell me what the problem is and we can deal with it," she said.

"I'm only 18 mother," said Hermione, "I'm too young to—I can't," she said starting to cry. Her grandmother walked into the room

"Edward," she said looking at her father, "Jane," she smiled, "What a pleasant surprise. Please come in," she said. They all walked over to the parlor, Hermione clutching onto her grandmother's hand as they did. "It'll all be okay," she whispered to the young woman. They all sat in some awkward silence when her grandmother looked up. "Edward, would you like to come with me to the corner bakery and get some bagels and food for breakfast. I can imagine you and Jane are absolutely starving," she said sensing Hermione would be more comfortable with her mother. Edward nodded and stood up following Margaret as they left the room. After the door had shut, her mother walked over to the couch Hermione sat on and held her hands.

"Darling, tell me what's going on, please don't keep your father and I in the dark. You know that we support you, no matter how much we do or don't know about the Wizarding World." Hermione looked down and started sobbing into her mother's arms, relieved that she had one person in the world to talk to.

"Mummy," she cried, "I screwed everything up."

"Tell me, just like a band aid ripping out," she said.

"I'm—having a baby," she said with immense difficulty. Her mother stiffened and parted from her holding her arms in her hands. "I'm keeping it," she said. Her mother's eyes were filled with something she couldn't read. It seemed more like disappointment in herself rather than Hermione.

"How did this happen?" She asked. "Is it that Ronald boy's?" Hermione shook her head. "No?" and with that, Hermione explained what had happened after Ron had left, from the very beginning. She poured her heart out, her fears her worries, everything that had happened. She felt a giant weight from her heart being lifted.

"And I couldn't tell him, I really couldn't. If I did, he would have stayed with me, but it would have split apart the family. He couldn't afford that, not when he had lost too much. Seeing him every day, it was too hard. I made a mistake, and didn't think about the consequences. And I tried to stay, but the moment I found out about the baby I knew that it was not going to work, that I needed—I needed to get out of there, and Grandmum was the first person I thought of," she said looking at her mother, "I knew that she was by far the most removed. She was someone I could go to and completely leave everyone's lives." Her mother stared at her with sad eyes.

"Oh Hermione," she said. "I haven't been able to be a good mother to you. I've let you down haven't I?" She asked. Hermione was shocked; this was not even close to the reaction she had imagined.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I just feel like I haven't been there for you. I thought sending you to Molly's would be okay, because I didn't understand your world. I did not that there was even a small thing I could have contributed to. I apologize for that, I just felt so out of place in your life, with the magic and the whole different world." Hermione hugged her tightly.

"Oh mother," she cried, "You've been supportive, loving, and you always tried—I just pushed you away, thinking you would never understand me." Her mother laughed.

"A common trait in most teenagers," she said. "Hermione, although this is disappointing, your father and I are here to support you. If you would like, I'll speak to him before hand, and prepare him. But we love you so much. You're always going to be our baby girl. And frankly, the way you've chosen to deal with the consequences of your actions have been amazing, and I respect them. We will help you in however way possible."

"Oh mum," she said hugging her mother tightly. Her mother held her back as Hermione cried into her shoulder. A few minutes later her father and grandmother entered the room.

"Hermione, will you please leave and give your father and I a second to speak?" Asked Jane politely. Hermione nodded and exited the room. Her grandmother pointed to the kitchen before she closed the parlor door. Hermione sat in the hallway on a chair and waited for the discussion. She heard muffled yelling, pleading, and suddenly her father burst through the door, crying, red faced, obviously angry. He strode over to her and she felt her body shake in fear. He leaned down to her seat put his hands on hers and started crying.

"Why didn't you tell me sweetheart?" He asked gripping on to her. He then released her hands and hugged her tightly. She fell into his embrace. "Why?" He repeated over and over again as they both cried. He stroked her hair lovingly. He then parted with her. "I'm looking for a position here or near the city. We will move here and support you to the best of our ability." He wiped away the tears pouring down her face.

"I love you daddy," she said.

"I love you too Mionebee," he said hugging her tightly again.

(10 years later)

Hermione had played over about a million responses to the announcement of the pregnancy in her head, but absolutely in no scenarios did her parents act as calm and supportive as she did when she broke the news. Of course this wasn't something they let her live down easily, their trust was shattered and it took her ages to build up. She walked into the apartment building that her parents lived in and the doorman smiled at her as she walked in. She entered the elevator and proceeded up the 9 floors to her parents' apartment. She knocked on the door and her mother answered a few minutes later.

"Hey sweetheart," her mother said tying up her robe. "She is just finishing up getting ready for school and then I was going to drop her off—"

"I've got it," said Hermione walking in. "How was she?"

"Goofing around instead of doing homework as usual," said her mother. Hermione laughed a little. "You know what I hate?"

"What?"

"She can goof around all she want, and still get all As in school. She's a clever little one." She said happily. Hermione smiled and nodded.

"Yeah," she said leaning against the bar. She yawned.

"Tough shift?" Her mom asked. Hermione nodded.

"Luckily I won't have to go again until tomorrow morning," said Hermione, "So I should be able to drop her off. And Cathy will be back by then so you don't have to babysit anymore mum," she said yawning once more. Her mother patted her on the head.

"I'd be happy to," she said. "Your father wants to know if you want anything from Italy by the way, he's bringing back presents of course, but do you or—" As she said this, a small barrel of red curly hair came running into the room into her mother's arms.

"Mommy!" She exclaimed, hugging her. "Guess what," she said.

"What?" Hermione asked, leaning down.

"I bet you can't roll this quarter down the side of your face without picking it up," she said. Hermione raised her eyebrow.

"You're on." She picked up the quarter and did it.

"Anna, why are you laughing," she asked. Anna giggled some more. "Do you want me to tickle it out of you?" She asked as her mom prepared breakfast.

"Hermione, would you like anything to eat?" Her mom asked. Hermione shook her head. Her mom laughed when she looked at her. "And also go look in the mirror." She walked over to the mirror in the hallway and there was a black charcoal line down her face.

"ANNA," she yelled, "You're really going to get it now." She ran through the room and grabbed Anna and began tickling her furiously.

"Mommy!" Anna yelled, giggling. Hermione's mother watched them and smiled, reminded of Hermione's exuberance when she was younger. Hermione laughed.

"Now you all ready for school?" She asked. Anna nodded.

"Yeah mom," she said. Hermione smiled. "You're not going to prank Mrs. Blumfield again are you?" Anna rolled her eyes.

"Oh my god mom, she totally deserved it." Hermione looked at her.

"Well regardless, you shouldn't play practical jokes on people, its mean."

"It was **just **a whoopee cushion," she said. "And besides, she's come to expect it now, I can't deprive her of that can I?" She said with a mischievous grin. Hermione sighed. She knew that she was fighting a losing battle here. Hermione sighed.

"Anna," she said taking her over to the couch and sitting her down, "There's a time and a place for jokes. Now if at the end of the year you decide you do indeed want to drop a water balloon on her head, then I would have no problems. But you need to focus on school and reading," she said pleadingly. Anna rolled her eyes.

"Fine Mom," she said. Hermione raised her eyebrow. She rolled her eyes once more and sighed walking into the dining room. Hermione grabbed a towel and water and began to wash her face while yawning.

"You need to get some sleep, those bags under your eyes could carry groceries," her mother said while putting toast on the table. Hermione laughed a little bit.

"I know, I guess it's all part of being a doctor though," she said. Her mom smiled. Pretty soon Anna finished and she and Hermione left to get to school. As they stood at the doorstep, Hermione's mother raised one eyebrow.

"Now, you have food at home right?" Hermione nodded.

"Yes mom. I still have most of that lasagna you made," she said. Her mom nodded.

"Alright, now Anna you be good, and I'll see you both next week for Thanksgiving." Hermione smiled.

"We may both be a little late though," she leaned into her mother's ear and whispered, "I'm taking her to the parade." Her mom smiled.

"Oh alright then, I'll see you both next week."

"Come on Anna, let's get to school," said Hermione.

"Okay mom," she sighed. They both walked out the door hand in hand.

"So where did you learn the prank?" Hermione asked as they both walked down the stairs.

"Um, some guy at school told me. You blacken the edge of a quarter and then you tell someone, 'I bet you can't take this entire coin and roll it down your face without leaving…and then they do it and they have a black-grey line all down their face," she said with a mischievous grin. Hermione laughed.

"That's clever," she admitted.

"How was work?" Her daughter asked.

"Well, we had a pretty big accident last night. A huge car crash in the Lincoln Tunnel," said Hermione, "So we were busy with that."

"Yeah I heard that on the news this morning before you got here," she said. "Hey Mom, can we go to the Central Park Zoo sometime this week? I have to do a project on the Lion and apparently there's information that we have to get from the plaque on the exhibit." Hermione nodded.

"Sure Anna," she said. Anna smiled.

"Thanks Mom."

"Actually, we can go today after you get off of school. I'll come pick you up and we'll go see the animals, how's that?"

"That sounds great!"

"Okay good," Hermione said stopping in front of her small school building, "Now, remember, pay attention in class, and no pranks. I don't like going to see your principal on a weekly basis." Anna rolled her eyes.

"Fine mother," she stated. Hermione hugged her and watched her walk inside the building.

"Granger?" She heard. She closed her eyes. It had been ten years but she still recognized that voice.

"Hello Draco," she said. She turned around and there he was, blond hair, smirk, and pale skin. "Wha—what-what are you doing here?" She asked. He stepped closer to her.

"The better question is, what are you doing here?" He looked oddly genuinely concerned.

"I can't discuss it here," said Hermione, noticing people starting to look her way, "I live a couple blocks down. Lets go back to my place and talk." Draco nodded. A few minutes later, after an incredibly awkward walk, Draco Malfoy was sitting at her couch sipping a hot cup of tea.

"How did you find me?" She asked.

"Well there was a batch of some very powerful magic radiating from around here, we have reason to believe it's your daughter," he said matter-of-factly. "And I know for a fact you told the board of trustees at Hogwarts that you wanted nothing to do with this world." He turned to Hermione. "Look I know that we never quite saw eye to eye—"

"Eye to eye? I was tortured in your house by your aunt while you were watching!" He turned red and looked down.

"Yeah I was hoping you wouldn't mention that." He said scratching the back of his head. She rested her elbows on the bar and put her head in her hands. "Ron doesn't know," he said. Hermione looked up.

"What?"

"I was the only one assigned to look into the magic around here."

"You're an auror?" She asked. Draco's eyes widened.

"Oh Merlin no," he said, "Like they would let me be an auror. I'm on parole until the day I die Granger," he said smiling, "No no no, we both work for the Ministry of State. He's actually one of the top candidates to become Foreign Minister," said Draco.

"Oh?" Asked Hermione. She felt a knot forming in her chest and a mysterious lump appeared in her throat. He noticed her uneasiness.

"But what I do is, I monitor pockets of energy and magic in various parts of the world and most witches and wizards are registered, and your child was not, so I checked to see if she had muggle parents and you were the name as her parent on the birth certificate," he said.

"Oh?" Asked Hermione.

"It's not Ron's is it?" Asked Draco. Hermione shook her head. Draco nodded. "I just came to ask if you were sure not to let her begin a wizarding education because I just sense that she has remarkable talent and could really flourish in our world."

"I don't think so," said Hermione.

"Come on Granger, she deserves it," said Draco.

"Look Draco, I know that she does. I know what she deserves, but I can never go back, nor can I let her ever go into that world. It is a very small world and she would be forever plagued with hatred and judgment for MY mistake," she put her hands in her hair. "I could _never_ do that to her. I love her too much." Draco nodded.

"Also, you have a significant amount of money left in Gringott's, would you like me to convert and transfer that into your bank account and close your Gringott's one?" He asked. "Let me do that, it'd be the least I could do for troubling you," he said. Hermione sighed.

"Just mail me a check for the money, I'll take care of it here," she said. Draco nodded.

"Thank you for your time. I'll personally monitor the magic around this area," he said.

"You've changed," noted Hermione.

"Ten years does that to you," said Draco.

"What happened? If I'm not being too presumptuous," said Hermione.

"I just grew up Granger. It was a lonely time for those of us who sported the Dark Mark," he sat down as she directed him to the sofa. She sat in an armchair across from him, "I served time in Azkaban. I worked hard during my time in prison. I helped serve meals; I even began to help prison workers with ledgers and accounting. Pretty soon I came up for parole, and my judge looked at my record and decided I had been rehabilitated. I was a child during Voldemort's time, and although it was terrible and cruel, they decided to forgive me and give me a second chance." Draco smiled, "I left Azkaban a changed man five years ago. I applied for a small job in an office, and worked my way up for about a year, and then applied to the Ministry of State. I guess they decided to give me a chance as well," he said, "And I'm utterly grateful for it, and would never jeopardize it for the world." Hermione nodded. He smiled. "But don't think this makes us friends," he raised his eyebrow.

"Never expected it," said Hermione. Draco smiled.

"Well you take care now, I'm off to begin my rounds," he said.

"Rounds?" queried Hermione.

"I got the lovely job of counseling parents whose children are showing signs of magic, we do it early nowadays and therefore, I am off to London," he said putting on his coat. Hermione nodded. He then walked to her foyer and disappeared with a crack. She rolled her eyes and went into the kitchen to do dishes. Her mind wandered back to so many years ago, when all of this began.

It all started with an urgent owl letter from Ginny at three o'clock in the morning, eleven years ago. Hermione was just about to go to bed after a late night of reading when Pig rapped on the glass urgently. She opened the window to her flat and the owl dropped a letter onto her lap. She opened up the letter and all it said was, George's flat, now. She put on a jacket over her pajamas and apparated. Ginny was standing in the living room, her eyes on the floor. George was lying there, smashed bottle in hand pieces of glass covered the entire flat. Blood trickled across the floor and Hermione barely saw his chest move up and down.

"What happened?" She asked, shocked as healers began to move into the apartment. Ginny rushed into her arms sobbing hysterically.

(A/N) Hey! Chapter 2!!! Don't worry guys, I have a plan, everything comes together. I just needed Draco there so that we explained why, for now, Anna won't be getting a letter. Tell me what you think, hopefully the next chapter will be up soon!! :D

Faster if you review!!

Thanks for reading

-WWW12


	3. The One Where Hermione Watches George

"What happened?" Hermione asked frantically as healers rushed into the room. Ginny shook her head in disbelief.

"Mum sent over some collared greens and mashed potatoes and, she's just always so heartbroken after she comes here, I offered to go instead, and I tried apparating and was blocked to outside. By the time I could release the charms around the building and around the apartment, it got really late and I knew something horrible had happened. I came inside and there he was, lying there. I owled you immediately and then tried to make sure he was alive before I called St. Mungo's," she said beginning to shake violently. Hermione clutched the small girl in her arms and stroked her hair as Harry and Ron burst into the room. They came in as George was being flooed out.

"Blimey," said Harry, "What happened here?"

"George," said Ginny, shocked, "He tried—He tried," she couldn't get the words out, every time she opened her mouth she began to sob into Hermione's chest. Hermione felt tears beginning to pour down her cheeks.

"What happened?" Ron asked more frantically, his face ghostly pale.

"He finally managed to drink himself into a stupor, he fell back and smashed his head against a bottle," said Hermione. Ron dropped down to the table, face even paler white than before. Harry put a comforting arm around Ron and the four of them stood silently.

"We should go to St. Mungo's," said Harry, "Did you call your Mum and Dad?" Ginny shook her head. Harry took his wand out and whispered something and then sent his patronus over to the Burrow. He walked over and Ginny switched over to him from Hermione who had an odd sort of expression on her face. "Ready?" Harry asked calmly. Hermione nodded, and she noticed Ron turning a sickly shade of green.

"We'll join you in a bit," she said, her voice shaking. She feebly grasped Ginny's hand as they walked off. Ron took this time to run back to the bathroom. She chased after him and sat outside the closed door. A few minutes later Ron came out and Hermione stood up to meet him. His face was pale, all color drained from his cheeks. He looked ghastly, to say the least. His eyes had begun to regain the vacancy she had seen the few months ago.

"I can't lose another one," he murmured, referring to the toll that the death of his elder brother played on him. Hermione nodded understandingly. For weeks afterwards she had held him as he sobbed. He cried out most nights and nightmares plagued all three of them at the sight. It was always that final moment when Fred was struck that occurred in slow motion, that sickly smile that had stayed on his face as he sank to the floor, Percy screaming and throwing his body over his younger's. These memories forever haunted the three of them, but most of all Ron. It had taken almost two months for him to maintain some sort of sleep, and when Hermione was not looking, and sometimes when she was looking, he would have this vacant far off expression staring off into the distance wondering if there was anything he could have done to protect him.

As they both made the slow walk over to St. Mungo's, Hermione was hesitant to apparate as both of them were suffering from very heightened emotions, and Ron agreed, they both thought upon the neglect they had provided George. Although Fred's death had affected all in a negative way, they had never really considered the pain and agony that George must have felt at the thought of this. They had never understood how much more of a toll this must have taken to it. They thought if they left him alone and to Molly's occasional peek-in, he would be fine eventually. After all, one who was so jovial and full of life could not stay down for long. They thought he would bounce back eventually. Now they had wished that they had paid more attention to him, one who had lost essentially one half of himself. Hermione could not even begin to fathom the pain and agony felt by George at that moment. She could not even begin to imagine the sort of emotional turmoil he had to face every day. She reached over and took Ron's hand in hers and gave it a squeeze as they entered the Hospital. She went over to the front desk.

"George Weasley," she said. Ron stood silently beside her. The kindly old receptionist took a look at the updated list of rooms. Names vanished and were added on every second. She took out her eyeglasses and began to peruse the list of names, which, thankfully, was alphabetical.

"Weasley," she said softly to herself, "Weasley, weasley, weasley, oh! There you are dear, Room 567, take the lifts if you go down the hallway to the right, and the room should be the fourth one to your left." Hermione nodded. She looked up, "And if he's not there now, he's still in Urgent Care, just sit tight in the waiting room in the wing and he will be out in a second." She smiled and went back to her knitting needles that had knitted themselves into a knot while she spoke to them.

"Not a busy night," said Ron softly, the first time he had spoken since the flat. Hermione looked at the empty hallways and shook her head.

"Nope," she said, squeezing his hand a little tighter. Ron smiled a little to himself and suddenly stopped walking.

"Hermione," he said.

"Yes Ronald?"

"I don't think I can do this," he said. "I've lost one brother, I can't lose another." Hermione walked over to him, wrapped her arms around his waist and looked at him face to face.

"You haven't, and you won't," she said surely. "You just need to stay calm and come with me, speak to him, show him that we all are by his side, and love him and support him about 100 percent." He looked down.

"I miss them," he said, "They could find happiness in the darkest hours."

"Then we need to find a way to help him find some light in his darkest hour," she said. "Cheesy I know, but he has lost someone he has spent every second of his life with, that bond can be understood by nobody." She put her hand on his cheek. "So you need to step up to the plate and be his support. I know you can do that," she smiled. Ron kissed her hand and kissed her chastely on the mouth.

"Thanks Hermione," he said, "I hope I can." They pushed the button for the lift and a few seconds later, a set of golden doors opened for them and they made their way up to the fifth floor. Hermione strode along with purpose; hoping and wishing Ron would draw strength from her. She thought, although there were tough times, Ron and Ginny would always have Harry and her to help them along. They would always have someone to draw strength from outside the family, but George had absolutely no one. How could she have made such a glaring oversight? She mentally kicked herself. They all needed to be there for George, but he needed Hermione and Harry as well, regardless of how close they were before, he needed people with him because being alone would be a bad idea no matter what. She made a mental decision to be much more proactive about making sure he was consistently okay.

As soon as they reached the waiting lounge they saw a very devastated Molly and Arthur sitting with their heads in their hands. Molly looked dreadfully thin, weak and defeated. She had lost one son and had lost most, if not all, of her tenacity. Her voice had become exceedingly softer; her actions had lost much of their purpose. Arthur seemed to gain many more years, slowing down in his work. Just the thought of the loss of another son would be the end, Hermione thought. She couldn't handle that thought at all. Ginny stood off to the side, face buried in Harry's chest. They both seemed much older and wiser than their few short seventeen and sixteen years of life, respectively. Bill, Charlie, and Percy sat in three other waiting room chairs mirroring Arthur and Molly. The attitude in the waiting area was a somber one, everyone seeming mournful but not shocked that George had gone searching for Fred at the bottom of every bottle of Firewhiskey he could lay his hands on.

Just at that moment, a nurse exited from the room he was in and nodded towards Molly who rushed in. Arthur followed after her, his steps worn out and tired. The nurse looked around at everyone in the room

"Are you all his family?" She asked. They nodded and spoke in agreement.

"It was pretty bad, we've put several charms to minimize the damage, but the curse that blew off his ear, also made healing for him extremely hard. We have him with a psychiatrist for the next few days and we will be closely monitoring him, but afterwards, you as a family need to make sure there is someone with him at all times." Bill nodded, taking charge as the eldest.

"When can he go home?" He asked.

"I would say in four or five days, we just want to make sure all of his wounds have healed, and we do want to get him into a psych consult" she said. "Although, don't baby him, keep him at his parent's house for a few days at the most, but he needs to be able to cope on his own eventually, so I would suggest at least sitting with him in his own flat and not to mollycoddle him." She smiled, "In my experience, that has been the most effective." They all nodded.

"Can we see him?" Bill asked. The nurse nodded.

"You guys can go in," she said, "He's still charmed to sleep, but the charm should wear off in a few minutes." They all nodded somberly and proceeded into the room. The nurse stopped Harry and Hermione when they wanted to enter and they began to stay back when Molly beckoned them both in.

"We want all of our family," she said. They both hurried inside the room as well. George was lying in the hospital bed. He looked tranquil, all trace of hurt vanished from his still face. Molly had her head on his hand and she gripped him with all of her strength. Arthur sat in a chair on the side and rested his head in his hand. His hair was disheveled, more than usual, his body was tired and sad. Percy sat by George's head and had a cold compress on it staring forlornly at his younger brother. Bill and Charlie both stood off to the side, equally distraught. Ginny and Ron stood by Hermione and Harry and the four of them were silent. Hermione contemplated on what could be done next. Seeing her favorite family like this was too much. They were the only family she had always known. As much as she loved her own parents, they just had withdrawn from her life. She didn't think that they would ever understand her various plights, and they did not ever really reach out to her. Ever since they had returned from Australia, they kept their distance from their daughter and she was perfectly content to spend time with Molly and the rest of the Weasleys.

As she dozed off thinking about her familial relationships, George began to stir. As soon as his eyes opened, his vacant expression remained. He spoke no words; he made no sort of effort to admit his family's presence at his bedside. A small magic heart monitor monitored his heart and beeped faintly in the background signifying that he was indeed alive. Molly cried into the side of the bed and stroked his arm. He responded by simply staring up at the ceiling. Harry and Hermione left early to give him time with the rest of his family and they both walked outside in the snow.

"Where are you heading?" Harry asked Hermione as they reached the streets of London.

"Probably back to my flat, I have a lot of studying to do if I want to pass my exams," she said with a sigh. Harry nodded.

"I'll walk you," he said, "I'm heading that way." He put his hands in his pockets and they walked together towards downtown London and the Leaky Cauldron.

"I didn't know it was this bad," said Hermione.

"Can we—not talk about that," asked Harry, a pained expression in his eyes. She turned to him with a concerned gaze and stopped speaking immediately. They walked in silence, understanding of each other's need for company, but also understanding of the other's needs. They walked through the night and made their way into Diagon Alley and to Hermione's flat when it began to drizzle a little.

"You going home?" Hermione asked. Harry shook his head.

"I think I'm going to walk around a little bit," he said softly. Hermione nodded understandingly. She hugged him tightly and kissed him on the cheek. Harry kissed her forehead lovingly.

"Want company?" She asked. He shook his head. Hermione smiled and squeezed his hand reassuringly. "Well if you change your mind, just knock on my door, I'll probably be up all night studying." Harry smiled.

"Of course you will," he said, "When is your exam?"

"Next week, and that's only to see if they'll let me study to be a Healer under them, but really, if I'm going to have education as a healer and start a residency program, then it might as well be with St. Mungo's," she said.

"They are the best," said Harry. He smiled and hugged Hermione tightly once more. "Goodnight Hermione," he said.

"Goodnight Harry," she said back with a grin. She went into her room afterwards, sat at her desk and began to cry.

It had been three weeks since the incident. Two weeks since George was discharged from the hospital. He had stayed under his mother's supervision for a week, but then returned home. Every member of the family would take turns to watch him, make sure he didn't do anything untoward. According to schedule, everyone belonging to the Weasley family would take a shift and go and eat with him, attempt to talk to him and at least be there for him and show that although it might feel that way at first, he was not alone and he had family.

Hermione had gotten back her results from the examination and she had been accepted to begin Healer training in January, but until then she realized that the monetary award she had received from the Order of Merlin would tide her over. So she decided to take a vacation until she would begin the classes.

She spent most of her days just walking, exercising, catching up with her friends and mostly reading. The only problem was, Harry and Ron had both decided to train under the most rigorous Auror training absolutely possible. They wanted to be employed under the special service where they would work in a more international capacity which means she did not get to spend much time with Ron or Harry. She was at Fortescue's, reading, when she spotted Ginny Weasley walking down the street carrying a lot of bags.

"Ginny!" She yelled. Ginny looked around, spotted Hermione and her harried face broke out into a toothy grin.

"Hermione!" She exclaimed, "Just the person I wanted to see. I was actually really hoping to run into you," she said sitting at Hermione's small café table. Hermione raised her eyebrow. "Today is, well, me and Harry hadn't really been keeping track of how long we've been together and dating and everything, so we decided to set today as our one year and just go from there. But today is my turn to go over to George's….so I was just wondering if you would…just this once, for a few days. Harry got a few days off, and since Ron has his leave in a few weeks, would you—"

"Go over to George's?" Hermione asked, her voice oddly higher pitched than normal.

"That would be brilliant, and here are my mum's dishes and food for dinner tonight, there's enough for you too!" She hurried to give her the bags.

"But what would I say? What would I do?"

"Same thing you do here, except in the flat, Hermione its really pretty easy and you get a meal out of it too," said Ginny rolling her eyes. "Please, since I've been the one on holiday I have been with him pretty much every day of the week. Thursdays are Percy's day, but other than that the rest of the family chips in every weekend and mum just smothers him and he doesn't like that very much, please please please, you would actually be my favorite person," said Ginny grinning. Hermione sighed.

"Fine," said Hermione, "But I don't know—"

"Please Hermione, he's my brother, not an ex-convict," said Ginny with a giggle. Hermione smiled.

"When should I be over there?" Asked Hermione.

"Well he should be getting up about now, so soon," said Ginny. Hermione looked at her watch.

"But its almost noon! He's not up yet?"

"It's George," said Ginny. Hermione smiled. "Thank you SO much," she said kissing Hermione on the cheek. Hermione returned the favor and hugged her close friend tightly.

"Have fun with Harry," she said as Ginny apparated away. She sighed and looked down at the bags surrounding her and picked them up and went on her way to go visit George.

His flat was a rather large one, a floor above his shop. She noticed the disarray his shop was in, dust settled everywhere, it looked like the set of some grisly horror film. She furrowed her brows and climbed up the stairs of the door of the flat and peeked in. The door opened as she touched the handle. George was sitting on the couch staring at the fireplace. His eyes were devoid of all emotion. Stubble grew across his chin and he looked as if he hadn't slept for ages.

"Hey," she said softly. George turned around. "Ginny couldn't make it for a few days so I'm filling in for her," she said. He nodded imperceptibly, resuming his former staring at the wall. She made her way over to the living room after placing the bags in the kitchen. As soon as she sat down, he stood up and walked into his bedroom and shut the door. Hermione sighed sadly, she pulled out her book and began to read knowing that going after him was out of the question. He came out once during dinnertime and sat silently while she served the food and they began to eat.

"So I just read _Pride and Prejudice_ for the first time today, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. My mother adores that novel," she said aloud, as he ate his food in silence.

"I like it so far. But for some reason I don't understand the appeal of Mr. Darcy. At first he is just such a jerk to her, and just shows such a blatant disrespect of her. I much prefer Colonel Brandon in _Sense and Sensibility…_he is absolutely darling. I mean the way he can forgive and still associate with Marianne although she had disgraced herself in society with Mr. Willoughby is unbelievable. Now he is a true gentleman. Although I could see how Mr. Darcy was sort of the original bad-boy, the douchebag—" George made a small motion when she mentioned the word douchebag, he seemed surprised and slightly amused at the same time. Hermione smiled. "Well he just seemed like the epitome of douche, it could be argued that he was kind at the end, but still, you can't just forget past actions. I don't know if I would be quite that forgiving. And of course Elizabeth decides to forgive him after she sees the absolutely phenomenal house, but I'm not really implying she's a gold-digger—but really…" At this point George had completed his food and headed back into his bedroom. Hermione took that as a cue to leave and she made her way back home.

For the next few days she kept going to the flat and brought a different book every day. That day, it was _Madame Bovary_ that accompanied her. As she sat down to begin reading, George exited his bedroom and sat down beside her. He turned and looked at the cover of the book.

"What are you reading?" He asked gruffly.

"_Madame Bovary,"_ she said grinning, "I like this one."

"And it's about…"

"Oh, well Emma is this lovely little ingénue in rural France and she marries this guy. She's extremely glamorous and has a great deal of hope about her future and wants an extremely passionate and romantic love life and she doesn't get it and its just about her disappointment and she has a bunch of affairs, and I'm just on her first affair actually so I couldn't tell you what happens afterwards," she said.

"So you've just been reading a book per day?" George asked. Hermione nodded.

"Two if I can squeeze them in," she said.

"And are all of them this dull?" She slapped him with her book playfully.

"Not so much," she said. "Oliver Twist was rather exciting. Actually you may like that one." George cocked his head.

"It's by Dickens, well—Charles Dickens really, and its about this boy whose life really just sucks, but he gets into all of these adventures and stuff and its really rather fantastic," she smiled.

"Lend it to me," said George. "God knows I have time." He smiled sadly. Although he attempted to smile, Hermione noticed he didn't crease his eyes in that familiar way, denoting that he was happy. "And it's not about all that lovey-dovey Colonel Darcy pish posh is it?"

"First of all, pish posh?" Hermione asked. George shrugged. "And second of all its, Colonel Brandon and Mr. Darcy." George rolled his eyes. Hermione mocked him in an over-the-top way.

"Who are those books written by?" He asked.

"Jane Austen," said Hermione with a grin.

"Of course, a woman," he stated.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hermione asked.

"Nothing, just that a woman wrote them. Wonderfully flawed male romantic leads." George scoffed. "They don't exist in real life. Take Ron for instance, he'll never get his head out of his arse long enough to do anything about his crush on you. You were the one who kissed him first. And now he's just doing what's safe. He'll never take a risk and openly bring himself towards you," he said. "And that's not just because Ron is a git, or a coward, or anything of that sort. He's just non-confrontational like the world, and would rather just be safe than take any sort of effort. These men like Darcy and Brandon just don't exist." Hermione furrowed her brow. George noticed her uneasiness until she looked up.

"Just because you aren't this way means all men are like you. Look at Harry—he"

"Harry, is also a savior, but look, he found love in his best mate's younger sister," said George, "no risk in that. And he knew ahead of time that she's been infatuated with him. It was still safe." Hermione sighed.

"I will prove you wrong George," she said. George shrugged.

"Please do, it'll brighten my view on human nature," he said. They sat in a little bit of awkward silence for a while; Hermione stared at a small fleck of wall right beside his shoulder. "Please, continue to read, don't stop on my behalf." He said. She shook her head and looked outside the window.

"Its so nice today!" She exclaimed, "Come on, lets go."

"Go where?" George asked.

"Out by a lake I know, come on, its quiet, you can sit and stare all you want and no one really knows about it. I'll side-along apparate you," she said softly. George looked down.

"Hermione I haven't been out in ages,"

"I know, just trust me for once," she said. "I'll read, you'll sit in silence. There's no use in both of us being cooped up inside when its so bright and sunny, someone may think we're…up to something," she concluded, giggling to herself. George raised his eyebrow. "Nothing," she stated and looked at him pleadingly.

"I don't know," he said.

"Oh come on, you might find that you are enjoying yourself. And don't worry, no one even knows about it, its kind of my secret thinking spot," she said. He rolled his eyes and sighed, offering his arm.

"Great!" Said Hermione. She grabbed the food from Molly and her purse, took his arm in hers and apparated. The lake shimmered blue as they both sat, leaning against a small cliff. The water danced softly as little waves joined them on the shore. They were in the midst of a meadow spanning miles and miles around them and the weather was just right. Hermione pulled out sunglasses from her purse and began to read. George turned to her.

"Do you mind if I walk around for a bit?" He asked. Hermione shook her head as he walked along the beach. He took his shoes off and laid them down and walked along the edge of the water staring up at the sky and stopping periodically. Hermione continued reading her novel and was happy her presence was actually having a positive impact on him. A few hours later, he made the full circuit and sat down beside her.

"How's the book?" He asked. Hermione smiled.

"It's good. Although Emma is a right pain in the arse," she said. George crinkled his eyes a little, a small hint of a genuine smile bubbling up.

"This place is great," said George. "And no one knows about it?"

"Well my grandmum owns this land, and she moved to New York City and she gave it to my parents who are rather attached to London. So there's a small cabin a meters away, its rather lavish, but this lake is pretty much hers," said Hermione. George nodded looking around. He put his hands behind his head and lay back on the rocks. Hermione kept on reading as she noticed George fall asleep, seeming almost peaceful, perfect, she thought.

That night, after making sure George made it back to his place and went to sleep, she headed back to her flat. Ron was sitting out in the hall waiting for her.

"Ronald," she said with a surprise. He stood up smiling and hugged her tightly and kissed her hair.

"I just wanted to drop off some food from Mum, I should probably get to bed soon. How is he?" He asked referring to George.

"He will be fine," said Hermione. "Are you sure you don't want to come in for a bit?" She asked. Ron shook his head.

"I get a leave in about a month, I managed to test out of transfiguration. Since Harry tested out of most of it, he just found out he'll get the rest of August off," he said. "And after my two week leave," he said, "We get to go to a resistance camp in Siberia for four months."

"What?" Hermione asked full of shock.

"I'll get breaks every so often. I'm sorry, I thought I told you." He walked closer to her and she took a couple of steps back.

"Does this look like the face of a person in the know?" She asked. Ron shook his head no and looked down.

"Sorry," he murmured. "I'm not the one coming up with the schedule." Herminoe sighed.

"I guess not," she said. "But you're done in January right?" He nodded. She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his middle, "Well we'll just have to make your breaks count for extra." Ron grinned and kissed the top of her head.

"You're amazing," he said. "Thanks, but I really need to go, I have to be up at four for drills."

"What—are you in the military or something?"

"Apparently."

"Well don't work too hard," said Hermione with a grin. Ron winked and apparated out of the hallway. Hermione sighed and went inside where an owl from Ginny was waiting. She sighed as she realized Ginny would request that Hermione take over for her until she started work, since by the end of August Ginny would be returning for her final year. She quickly responded affirmatively, it gave her a place to read quietly and not be bothered and also she got a free meal every night. Not to mention, she felt that she was making some very positive headway with George. She watched the owl fly away and then changed into her pajamas. She headed to bed and turned off the lights, she knew that everything would eventually be alright and that George would also eventually be fine. He was way too resilient to give up living.

----10 years later—

_April Fools Inc. _

"Seriously Mr. Richards, you're sure about this?" George asked at the meeting with the CEO, sipping a glass of brandy. Adam nodded.

"I think you have made our small business venture into a massive corporation, and I don't think we could have had half the strength we have now if it wasn't for you. I am absolutely more than sure that you would be a terrific CEO. I feel that the time is right for me to retire," he said. "Of course we will announce it at the Christmas party in a few weeks, but I want you for the job."

"Thank you," said George incredulously, "I really do not know what else to say. It has been an honor working with you." Adam smiled. George stood up and walked down the hallway to his office area and sat down. He'd become the CEO of this company, and it was something definitely in the making. Even through the recent recession in the US he managed to keep the large ship of the company afloat, they even branched out outside of the wizarding world to the muggle world. In the ten years he had gone into work, he had expanded to all of the continents, and now he was in charge of finances all over the world, he had several people under him to oversee projects all over the world, but his work kept him in Manhattan.

He stared out his window at the snow beginning to fall over the city and sighed. Although he had build such an empire, he felt nothing but complete and utter emptiness.

(A/N) There it is, flashback chapter! Merry Christmas all of y'all. I think I'm going to play around with time. The story will be told in a very specific sequence but I like going back and forth, let me know if it gives you a headache. Thank you to EVERYONE who has reviewed. :) You guys are awesome, keep on reviewing. Come on, press the button, I dare you. But I don't know if I can squeeze another update in before New Years. I'll try, but I don't know. Definitely after New Years though, so wait for that. As always I love you all! Merry Christmas! Happy Kwanzah! And Good Merlinpeen to you :) (points to people who can guess that reference)


	4. The One With a Meeting

Hermione sat in her living room, she stared incredulously out the window, watching a small family moving in across the street. She sipped the coffee she had made for herself and her mind drifted in and out of various thoughts. Draco's being here had really shaken her up, she didn't know what was going on, she didn't understand. Why now? Her thoughts swam over her life, her medical training was pretty extensive, she had graduated from NYU at the top of her class, she then moved on to Columbia and studied medicine before being accepted into the New York Mercy Hospital's residency program. All of those years, no involvement no sign from any sort of wizarding world and now suddenly out of the blue, Draco Malfoy of all people pops up again She put her head in her hands and groaned.

George looked outside, ever since his meeting with the boss earlier he had been contemplating on where life had taken him. The loss of his brother was way too much to handle, too much to take. He missed his brother. He missed laughing. He missed that rush of adrenaline he got every time he heard one of their pranks pull off perfectly. He downed his shot of whiskey and felt the familiar burning sensation slide down his throat. He winced slightly as a small piece of memo paper made its way on his desk and fluttered impatiently. He picked up the yellow piece of paper, his assistant informed him that his 1 o'clock appointment was there. He sighed and crumpled up the piece of paper. He pushed his wand to a small box and spoke into it.

"Yes Sam, send him in," he said calmly.

"Yes sir," Sam replied. George sat down at his desk and calmly waited for his client to walk through the door. His mind wandered as it often did to how he had ended up there. He thought about a sunny day ten years ago, on the shore of a lake in northern England. He and Hermione had been spending many afternoons on that lake, they had moved on from awkwardly sitting around each other

"What are you reading?" He asked as he laid back levitating a small twig up and down, confusing a bird.

"Waiting for Godot, it's a play by Samuel Beckett," she said chuckling to herself a little. George turned around and lay on his stomach looking up at the book.

"What's it about?"

"Well its not really about anything," said Hermione with a grin. "Its existentialist."

"Exi-what?"

"Existentialist." At his utter confusion, Hermione sighed. There must have not been that sort of a movement in Wizarding literature she thought. She grinned a little and proceeded to explain. "Its sort of an absurdist mentality. Life doesn't matter because we're all going to die anyway." She stated.

George cocked his head.

"So basically you can do anything you absolutely want," said Hermione, "And it wouldn't matter because no matter what you do, the end result is death. There is no moral punishment for what you do, because everyone ends up the same way. So it imposes a larger, kind of, real need to find out what is right and what's wrong and what falls into a grey area. It really takes out the black and white. So in Waiting for Godot, the two characters are always waiting for something, or rather someone, who will never arrive….am I making any sense?" She asked.

George shook his head. "Not at all. Great Granger, now I have a bloody headache." He laughed as he turned on his back once more and looked up at the clouds. For a while he just kept on calling out different cloud shapes according to what he thought they looked like. Although what he would call out would be rather bizarre.

"That looks like a mermaid, that was transformed into a whale," he said after a while. Hermione sighed and shook her head and continued reading. "Dolphin, with the beak of a bird and the wings of a bat," said George.

"How does that make any sense?" Asked Hermione. George shrugged.

"It's fun. Come join me!" He said patting a place right beside him. Hermione rolled her eyes, put a book mark in her book and proceeded to sit right by George and look up at the sky. He sat up, pushed her shoulder down so she was laying down right beside him.

"That looks like a bunny," she said pointing up. George sighed.

"Granger, you are boring. Where's the creativity in that? You could say, it looks like a mouse at a fancy dress party, with bunny ears. That would even be better," he laughed. He suddenly pointed to the side.

"That looks like a walrus building a house out of marshmallows." The funny thing is, when Hermione looked at what he was pointing at, she really did see a walrus building a house out of marshmallows. She let her mind wander creatively as she looked up at the clouds.

"That looks like a stuffed animal—" George groaned. "Let me finish!" Hermione exclaimed. "That looks like a stuffed animal, serving tea to little girls at a tea party." She grinned triumphantly. George turned and looked at her, he smiled.

"Way to go Granger, there's hope for you yet." Hermione turned so their faces were inches apart and she grinned. They both returned to staring up at the clouds.

"So how did you get stuck with this job?" Asked George.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"You know, looking after me, making sure I don't kill myself. Why did you get stuck with it?"

"I wasn't stuck," Hermione lied a little, "Healer training doesn't start until January and with the money from the Order of Merlin, I can just relax until then and I don't really need to find a job, so it doesn't matter all that much," she said. "I mean, I have been enjoying the past few days." She smiled. George turned around, confused.

"I'm sorry, you've enjoyed the past few days? Hanging around me, the sad pathetic loser," he scoffed.

"No really, I've gotten to get some reading done. And you're rather good company," she added, "You force me to think. Harry and Ron are great, but they just see me reading and dismiss it as one of my traits." She sighed sadly and looked up at the lazy clouds. The sun had disappeared behind one of them and it cast a shadow over their faces. They could hear birds chirping in the distance, the wind raked through the leaves of the trees. The tall grass in the meadows surrounding them bowed with the wind. The sudden absence of the sun caused there to be a quick drop in temperature and Hermione started to shiver slightly in her tank top. George turned and noticed. He sat up and picked up his sweatshirt he had carelessly casted aside and handed it to her. She smiled and put it on. George did not return to lying down, instead sat and stared at the ripples in the water as he sat hugging his knee with one hand. With another, he picked up a twig and played with the water. Hermione sat up beside him.

"Knut for your thoughts," she said. George sighed and shook his head. Hermione leaned down and put her head on his arm, her head not quite reaching his shoulder. His arm tensed up for a second and then relaxed as they silently sat staring at the lake. Occasionally a duck would fly in and float around for a bit, quacking as it moved along.

"I just want to be better," he said softly. "I just want to move on. But I absolutely can't. How do I live without someone who I've lived with for as long as I've been but a thought?" He looked down. Hermione remembered the painful eulogy he had delivered, the eulogy that had brought tears to everyone's eyes. She sat up and put her hand on his.

"You take every day as it comes," she said staring at his cheek. He turned to her and they both looked into each other's eyes. "It happened, and as much as I wish I didn't have to say the next line, there was absolutely nothing anyone could have done to change that. It is a major even that occurred and he died a hero. I'm sure wherever he is now; he is just as torn without you. But you guys need to fix that yourselves. You need to keep his memory alive," she said. She felt him grasping her hand tighter, clinging to every word that she said. A lone tear fell from his eye and it traced a trail of water down his cheek. She reached up and stroked his cheek, wiping away the tear with her free hand. She nodded her head softly as if to say it was all right if he cried. And he did, he began to sob openly falling into his knees. She stroked his back as he cried. Pretty soon she felt tears pouring down her face as well, in sympathy wishing she could do something more to ease his pain. "You may not know it, but there's always something to live for. Always someone or something to keep the next breath coming," she said. He turned to her, tears flowing down his face, finally accepting the departure of his brother.

"What do I have to live for?" He asked her. "What? You tell me. Fred did everything. Fred was everything. I always had a best mate no matter what, someone to talk to, someone to listen, and someone who laughed with me. He came up with our pranks, he was the brains behind everything we did. I just went along for the ride, and now I'm left here with bollocks," he said shaking his head. Hermione shook her head.

"No," she said. "What would Fred say if he could see you?" She asked. When George didn't reply she pressed on. "What would Fred say?"

"He'd tell me to get my head out of my arse and reopen shop."

"Well," said Hermione. George looked at her, wiping his tears with the back of his hand. She transfigured a blade of grass into a handkerchief and handed it to him. He took it gladly. He blew his nose hard and handed the handkerchief back to Hermione, who transfigured it back into the blade of grass, wincing a little as she did.

"Well what," asked George.

"Well why don't you do that?" She asked.

"It's not all that easy," said George.

"Why not?"

"Well because—I can't do it alone," he exclaimed throwing his hands up into the air. Hermione sat back on her palms.

"Why?" She asked.

"You want a reason?" He asked. Hermione nodded. "Well jokes aren't as easy as you think, and Fred always came up with the prank, I just executed it," said George.

"Well how hard can it be?" Hermione asked. "What about a paddle that repeatedly hits someone in the back of the head…like a ping pong paddle?" She asked. George raised his eyebrows, and then furrowed them in thought.

"Well that's one, but there'd have to be an entire line," he said, "and marketing, and product testing, and its just much easier to do with two people." He said. Hermione leaned forward.

"How long do you think just coming up for new products to reopen the store would take?" She asked. George shrugged.

"I dunno, erm," He scratched his head. "Four months?" He asked. Hermione counted in her head.

"So by Christmas holidays?" She asked. He shrugged.

"I guess," he said. "But Hermione, I don't think you understand, I can't do this alone." He stressed the end of that sentence. She rolled her eyes. "It needs more than one person."

"And I suppose I look like an owl?" She asked. George's jaw dropped, and a hint of a grin crept up into his face.

"Are you saying, little miss prefect Granger wants to help me restart a joke shop that she _so_ willingly approved of in our seventh year?" He asked. Hermione shrugged.

"I mean, I'd be lying if I didn't say I thought you were rather clever," she said, "And well, your jokes, while vulgar at times, were rather funny." She admitted. "Yes, I believe that now is the time for society to lighten up a bit…appropriately of course," she smiled. George jumped up and offered his hand to help her up. She got to her feet and he did not release his hand, instead he was shaking it rather vigorously. "George, you're going to break my arm off!" Hermione exclaimed. George smiled. It hadn't reached is eyes yet, but this was the happiest she had ever seen him.

"Well Hermione Granger, I should say that we're in business." He said. She smiled as he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up. She squealed in surprise.

"Well yes George, I should say we are," she grinned.

"Well what are we waiting for?" George asked, "We have inventions to invent, productions to produce, miracles to mirac…" He furrowed his eyebrows, "That didn't quite work." Hermione laughed as he hugged her tightly again. "Thank you," he said. "You knew just what I needed." She smiled and punched his shoulder.

"Don't thank me yet," she said. "We still have a lot to figure out."

"Well still," He said, holding her in his arms, "It's a start."

--New York 2008 --

Hermione stared at the fence waiting for Anna to emerge from the elementary school. She wrapped her coat around her body and recalled the eventful day many years ago, she missed the lake, missed everything that happened at the lake. The birds chirping, the sun shining were all things that did not occur as much in the urban jungle. She found true happiness in her daughter, but oftentimes, it was not enough. She wished she could give Anna the perfect family. A meal every week with her grandmother, magic lessons, arguments pertaining to pranks set off by her and her father. It was a pity that the pranks that Anna did learn were from herself and not her father. She sighed sadly and looked out when she felt the presence of someone standing right next to her.

"Ah New York in the fall," he commented when a particularly strong breeze hit them. Hermione turned around and looked on all directions, she groaned inwardly with frustration as soon as she realized the comment was meant towards her.

"Yep," she said nodding. He turned to her and used her curt reply as an invitation to speak more. She took a moment to observe his features. He was not at all ugly. In fact, he was rather handsome. He was rather tall, had brown perfectly immaculate hair, and teeth that seemed to gleam when he grinned. He had steel grey eyes that were rather warm and friendly, and his demeanor was not at all unpleasant. Hermione shrugged in her mind, couldn't hurt, she thought.

"Ryan, Ryan Thomas," he said proffering his hand, "And you are…?"

"Mia Granger," she said shaking it firmly.

"Well I have not had the pleasure of ever meeting you before. I assume your child is not in the fifth grade then?"

"No, she is," said Hermione, "my Mum is usually the one who's here for the parents stuff." He cocked his head in confusion. "I'm a third year surgical resident. So its hard finding time for these school things, although I wish I could come"

"No way!" Exclaimed Ryan. "My sister is in her residency, but she's over at Mass Gen," he said. "Hard stuff." Hermione nodded.

"It is," she said.

"Oh, I'm Melanie's father by the way," he said.

"Anna's," she replied, knowing exactly where the conversation was heading. They both heard the bell ringing inside the school signaling the end of another school day.

"So Mia, your husband—is he also a resident?" He asked, obviously probing. Hermione laughed.

"It's just Miss," she said. "I take it you are unmarried as well?"

"Widowed, ever since Mellie was a little girl," he said with his hands in his pocket. Hermione turned suddenly and noticed a slightly pained expression on his face.

"Oh I'm so sorry," she said. He shook his head.

"No need to be, it was many years ago." He sighed sadly and an awkward pause followed. The first wave of children began exiting the school. "Hey listen, I know your schedule must be hectic as hell, but if you'd ever like to grab a cup of coffee, or have some dinner, just call me, here's my card, my personal cell is on the back, I will hopefully talk to you later." He grinned. Hermione took his card and nodded.

"I will think about it," she said. _Dear God he can talk,_ she thought. As that thought entered her mind she heard her daughter calling out, and walking over to her. She hugged her mom and grinned.

"So how was your day?" Hermione asked as they walked towards the zoo.

"Pretty good," replied Anna, kicking leaves. "Something weird happened today though," she said.

"What?" Asked Hermione. Anna shrugged.

"I suppose its not that weird. But Shannon Nye was being mean to me again, and I was just so angry and she said such awful things, and I just got so mad that I, well, I don't know what happened, or if it really has anything to do with anything, but her nalgene bottle exploded and water was squirted everywhere," she said. Hermione gripped her hand tightly and her breath caught in her chest. This is what she was afraid of, her own daughter doing this, her magic manifestation. She was afraid, she knew that this would be a result of the life she chose, and she immediately regretted it. She turned to Anna and they both stopped. Hermione knelt down to her daughter's height and moved aside a strand of hair from her face.

"I'm sure its not related," said Hermione firmly, "Now the more important question is, which animal are we going to see first today?" Anna looked slightly disappointed at the lukewarm response she had received from her mother. She shrugged and looked down at the ground.

"I guess the lions, cause we have to have that stuff for science next week. But can we also see the penguins? I like those!" Exclaimed Anna. Hermione nodded.

"Of course," she said standing up and they both continued walking. The sounds of street performers heightened as they reached the edges of the park. They paid for a ticket and proceeded into the park to enjoy their half –day at the zoo.

"So I hope you understand Sam," said George placing the binder down on his desk. Sam had his head in his hands. George leaned forward on his desk.

"Look, we've had to make some pretty big cuts on our budget. With the way the muggle economy is, the wizarding economy has also taken a hit. You wouldn't think that the wizarding economy was that affected by what goes on in the muggle world," he stood up and walked over to his window and looked out as he finished his speech, "But the business models are the same, the economical factors are the same. The value of the galleon is decreasing every day, and inflation is absolutely horrible. True we're not as bad as the muggles, because we do not depend or require the need of petrol, but the entire population works like a giant clock. If even one cog is out of sync, no matter what, the largest gears will be affected. And unfortunately this company has had to take a real inward look at our most profitable and useless sectors. Unfortunately your department is not as strong as we would like, so we would like to offer you a severance packet. Leave quietly and your reward will be great," he turned to Sam, "Well greater than if you put up a fight. We do need you out of here, well in an hour. I have assembled a team to aid you in moving out of your office." George sat down in the chair and placed his hands on the mahogany desk.

"Please," said Sam, "I have children, I have a wife. What will they do without me? They need me," he began to break down, "Please Mr. Weasley," he said.

"I'm sorry Sam, there is absolutely nothing I can do about it," said George, "Although, looks like there is going to be a new president in office in America, and our Minister of Magic will work closely with him," he said. "There will be more jobs available as this president works, no quick fix though, you will find something. Your severance package should last you for a while though, and if you use it wisely, you shouldn't even feel the difference. Now for God's sake, compose yourself," said George standing up and walking towards the door. Sam's breathing was quick and uneasy he slowly rose from the chair, using it almost as a crutch. He was hunched over, staring straight at the ground, humiliated beyond all belief. George stared coldly at him as he slowly shuffled out of the room. As Sam finally left, George shut the door and leaned against it. Even after countless firings, they still affected him. He knew that he would have to make tough decisions though, especially to guide him through the tough times that lay ahead. He knew recovery would be slow and uneasy and that these decisions would have to be made. The very sanctity of the company was at stake, and with the announcement of his ascension to C.E.O coming up at the company holiday party; he could not show any mercy. He would be a ruthless ruler, making sure the giant ship of the company stayed afloat, he had nothing else. He looked at the clock and realized that this is the longest he had ever been in the office on his day off. He sighed and looked down, realizing that he needed some sleep, as the only sleep he had gotten over the past few days were in little four hour naps scattered about. He walked to his closet, pulled out his long grey wool coat, and began to put it on. He then put on a grey scarf, darker grey than his coat, but grey nonetheless. He then opened the door to his office, touching his wand to it as he left, it clicked locked and he walked past his secretary to the lifts.

"Goodby sir," she said winking at him and leaning back in her chair. George mumbled goodbye and pressed the down button. He exited the building into Muggle New York, it was the quickest exit to his apartment. As he was walking, he realized he did not want to go back to the empty unfriendly apartment, instead he decided to walk uptown, head to his favorite bar, knock back a firewhiskey or two, and then would go home. He took the stairs down to the subway and took the train heading into Midtown.

"Mum!" Yelled Anna staring into the monkey cage, "Look at it, it looks so sad," she commented. Hermione stared forlornly at the monkey in the cage, sitting, looking lonely as if it disdained the thought of being stared at by millions of viewers every day of every week. In a way, she could understand the feeling of being so trapped, of feeling that she had lost all control in the world. She put her hand on the fence, in an effort to reach out. She wanted to say she knew the monkey's pain, its inability to go back to the people it loved. She realized the full extent of her loneliness, although she had Anna, she had very few friends over the past ten years. She had no one to confide in. Her mother was great, and so was her grandmother while she was alive, but they just did not replace her need for friends. "Let's go," said Anna after a while, "I don't like this at all." Hermione nodded and hugged Anna as her pager started buzzing.

"Oh my god," she said as she picked it up. Anna had already made her way into the reptile house as she checked the number. It said emergency on it, so Hermione knew she had to call the hospital. "Anna," she called, "Come on, we have to go." She said. Anna groaned.

"Do we really have to?" She asked. Hermione nodded tiredly.

"We do," said Hermione. "And besides, it's a school night, you need to finish your homework." They both headed out of the zoo and into Central Park. Hermione felt her phone vibrate but because of the crowd, she knew she would end up yelling. "Anna, will you go to that playground right there, I will be right back, I just really need to take this call, and there are too many people here, I can't hear. Just go to that playground, look there's Mrs. Abbot, you'll be fine," said Hermione. Anna sighed.

"Fine," she said angrily and ran over to the swings. Hermione picked up her phone and walked down another path not so overrun by the afternoon crowd. "You better have a good reason for disturbing me on my day off," she said. Suddenly her face fell.

Anna sat on the swings watching her mother on the phone, she swung for a little bit and got bored. She looked around the playground at the younger kids running about, and their neighbor Mrs. Abbott who was always there every afternoon with her grandchildren. Her grandmother and Mrs. Abbot were great friends. She waved over to the elderly woman and walked over to another park bench. She put her backpack down and sat down beside a rather unhappy looking man reading the newspaper.

"Hello," she said to him. He looked over to her and dismissed her immediately. "What are you reading?" She asked peeking over at the paper. He sighed and did not respond. Hopefully her questions would tire her out and eventually she would find something else to do to entertain herself. She leaned forward and peeked at the front page.

"Tech companies, long insulated feel slump," she read. "What does that mean?" She asked. "Does that mean that the economy has hit technology too? My friend's dad works for Apple, does that mean that he'll have to be fired?" She asked. He looked up, such intelligence coming from such a young girl.

"How old are you?" He asked.

"Ten, will be eleven in August," she said with a grin.

"Well, you are a very bright young girl," he said.

"Thank you!" Exclaimed Anna.

"Where are your parents?" he queried. She turned around and pointed towards Hermione who now had their back turned towards them; she was slumped on a park bench.

"I worry about her sometimes," said Anna, "I don't think I've ever seen her really smile. She works too hard too. I barely ever see her." She looked sadly at the mulch on the ground. She noticed Mrs. Abbot's watchful eyes in their direction. "I don't know about my father," she continued, "I've never met him."

"Is that so?" He asked. She nodded.

"My mom says that he's apparently a really nice person, that's really smart and funny and stuff like that but I've never seen him before, I don't even have a picture of him," she said sadly. He didn't know why he felt such a strange bond to this girl, he never usually spoke to anyone let alone children, but for some reason, something about her captivated him. Her curly reddish brown hair seemed familiar, the brightness in her eyes brought about certain emotions within him. He did not know why, perhaps it was the wit that had drawn her to him. George stared at her, like he had seen her before but didn't know quite where to place her.

"What's wrong?" She asked, "You're staring at me all funny," she said.

"I just feel like I've met you before," he said. She shook her head.

"I don't think so, I'm pretty sure I would have remembered the scowl." He raised his eyebrows at her cheek. She bit her lip. "I'm sorry," she exclaimed, "I say things and I just don't know how to control them." He shook his head.

"That's quite alright," he stated. She turned around and saw her mom gesturing towards her. Just before George could get a good look at her face, she was kneeling down and fixing her purse.

"Well I gotta go, bye sad man!" She said running off. They both went walking off out of the park and George scratched the back of his head. He shrugged, out of millions of people in the world; one was bound to look like another. He stood up and walked the other way, out of the park and towards the bar he normally frequented. He liked walking through the park, it reminded him that there was something alive in a jungle of metal, he had spotted the headline of the paper sitting on a park bench and felt that it would be beneficial to read that story and then he would go on his way. He sighed, his mood slightly more elevated upon meeting the sweet and remarkable girl.

"Who were you talking to?" Hermione asked as they walked towards their apartment.

"Just a man, he looked sad," said Anna. Hermione gripped Anna's hand tightly, "Georgiana Marianne Granger, what have I always said about talking to strangers?" She asked. Anna shrugged.

"Not to," she said, "But Mom, he wasn't all that bad. He had sad eyes. No one with sad eyes could be bad." Hermione sighed.

"Nevertheless, don't ever do that again."

"Mom! Mrs. Abbot was like right there, so nothing would have happened." Anna replied angrily as they entered the apartment.

"Alright, well Natalia is coming down in a few minutes, I'll be back by nine, be nice to Natalia. I can't keep on going through nannies this quickly," said Hermione. "It's becoming rather absurd." Just as she said that she heard the doorbell ring. Anna sat down angrily on the couch as Natalia walked in and Hermione left to go back to the hospital. There was another mass casualty incident that occurred when the gas pipe of a building had exploded, causing a small building to collapse. She went as quickly as she could, hopefully the injuries weren't so intense that she would have to stay at the hospital all night. As she walked, her mind wandered to a time that made her happy, a time when death and chaos did not seem to rule over her life for a very brief period of time. Her mind went to the shop, to the moments where she and George decided to rebuild.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Allo people, sorry I took so long with the update. College is hard! But I live in DC, so we've just had the epic snowstorm and classes have been cancelled three days in a row. How marvelous is that? Well happy snow day…and if you are not experiencing snowpocalypse…lucky you Anyways, please review, they really motivate me to keep writing. I love all of you! Thank you so much for reading!!!


	5. The One With Sinatra

"So…what do you think?" George asked, drawing on a piece of parchment. Hermione glanced over at what he had down, instead of a business plan; it was a scribble of what was a bushy haired stick figure beating another stick figure over the head with a mallet that read _boredom. _Hermione looked over at him, clearly not amused.

"George Weasley! You were supposed to have come up with a business model for the store, you know budgets, new hires and all that." She stood up and walked over to a bunch of shelves and pulled out her stack of parchments, and began to order them. "Now what I've come up with is a schedule for the next four months, and then we'll be open for the holidays. So as soon as kids start coming back, what will they see in Diagon Alley! Your joke shop reopened. Now before we get to the fun stuff we—" She stopped short when she glanced over at him, and he seemed to be doing one large interpretive dance, aping her mannerisms and speech. She crossed her arms, and looked at him crossly. He stared at her and smiled mischievously. He rolled his eyes and handed her a roll of parchment.

"Here, I finished it last night," he said, "this was the part I was good at. I just tweaked some suggested prices and figures but all in all, the business model will be the same," he said. Hermione sighed and sat down. She rubbed her head in her hands.

"Then why—" she began, "why—"

"Did I lie to you?" George concluded. She nodded taking a large swig of her water. He shrugged. "It's fun seeing you worked up. Your nose crinkles up," he winked. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"So what next?" She asked. George shrugged.

"I dunno, you made the bloody schedule!" He said. She pulled out her schedule and read through it.

"Well, it looks like we're done for the day," she said, "I thought this model would take much longer than it did, so we could start on tomorrow's work and just be early, and have a couple days before we open shop in a few weeks, or take a break now." She knew the answer before he even said it.

"Break." They both said at the same time.

"So same time tomorrow?" George asked. Hermione nodded. "What's tomorrow?"

"Inventing," grinned Hermione. George grinned.

"Now that sounds more like it!" He exclaimed leaping to his feet, "finally, none of this business crap. Oh boy, would I hate to do that all my life," he said. Hermione laughed as she put on her jumper and proceeded to check her bag. Over the past few days they had poured over paperwork, reopening the shop after the war turned out to be a greater undertaking than they thought. Since George had been closed for so long, they required a brand new application for the store. Finally the last part they needed to get a bank loan was finished, they could begin working on the fun stuff.

"Oh remember, we have the meeting at Gringott's tomorrow, so have some nice clothes out." Hermione said. George smiled as she began to leave. Suddenly she felt his hand wrap around her wrist. She stopped and turned around.

"What?" She asked him. He grinned. He seemed to be doing that a lot these days, but while it may have seemed superficially that he was grinning, there was dullness in his eyes. One that Hermione feared would never leave. He did not let go of her hand.

"Look, it's seven, first time we're done before midnight. Let's celebrate the first part as a victory. You, me, Emperor's Pub down by Tottenham Court Road," he said, "Out in Muggle London." Hermione glanced down at what she was wearing.

"Okay, but I need to pop home for a bit and shower and change. I feel nasty. I will meet you in front of the Cauldron in an hour then," she said. George nodded. He waved as she apparated away. He sighed and sat down in a chair.

"Well Fred, here's to you," he said. He walked upstairs and looked in the mirror. His face was a mess, his stubble almost grown into a full beard, his hair was long and matted. His eyes looked terribly sunken in, and his clothing seemed to carry a musky smell. This was the first time he had been bothered by his outward appearance and was appalled that this was how he had presented himself to Hermione for the past few weeks. He turned the shower on, and thirty minutes later he had shaved, and kept his hair rather manageable. It had grown over the scar tissue that remained over his ear, effectively hiding it, but it did not suit him. He did not like his hair long at all, yet he hated the stares people gave him every day.

"Concealment charm?" The mirror offered. George shook his head, but thought. The curse did not allow for regeneration, but a concealment charm? Why hadn't he thought of that before? He cast a simple one for tonight, combing his hair back and putting into a low ponytail in the back. A trip to the local barber's would be necessary tomorrow morning. He then found an old bottle green button down shirt, which he wore with khaki pants. Overall he was rather happy with this new appearance. He checked his watch, he had ten minutes to head to the front of the Leaky Cauldron, plenty of time. He checked his appearance several more times, ready to go back out into society and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry Fred," he said passing his brother's room on his way out from the bathroom, "It's just—I need to try and move on." He opened the front door and apparated to the back entrance of the Leaky Cauldron. Thankfully there was a rather large crowd enjoying themselves, so he managed to push his way through without being noticed. He made it to the muggle side and exited into the cool fall air. He saw Hermione standing there.

"Blimey," he said, "You look like—well like a girl!" Hermione laughed at the compliment and she stared at George. Her eyes widened as she realized how normal he looked, and then she noticed his ears.

"George," she said pointing. "Wha—what—your ears!"

"Concealment charm, pretty simple," said George. Hermione nodded. She hugged her cream-colored cardigan closer to her body. He looked at her; she was wearing a blue heavy silk dress that ended just above her knees. The cardigan was cream but it had dark blue flowers matching her dress, complementing it perfectly. This was the first time he had noticed her in a completely different capacity, his heart started thumping wildly.

"What?" She asked. Even her hair looked less frizzy, her simple and classy makeup matched her personality, naturally beautiful, thought George. He felt a side of him he hadn't felt in a long time, the urge to flirt, but he withheld. _This is your brother's girlfriend, stay away, _said the tiny annoying voice inside of his head. He hid his currently racing thoughts with a simple smile. He held out his arm.

"Shall we?" He asked. Hermione nodded, linking her arm with his.

"We shall." They both walked a few blocks down, into a side alley and George apparated them to near the pub they were going to. It was a small hidden away pub, unseen at first but then it sort of appeared as they walked towards it. It was down underneath the ground slightly and had a rather friendly appeal. "How did you find this place?" Hermione asked. George shrugged.

"Well when me and Fred wanted to go somewhere and not be crushed by mad crowds of admiring children, we'd come down here. It became a place just to celebrate a new adventure I guess," he winked. Hermione smiled as they walked down the steps. He noticed her shoes, beautiful cream-colored flats that matched her sweater. If he were in any other state of mind, she would be slapping him right there for making an advance. They walked in and big band music began to play, and older couples were dancing on the floor. Hermione recognized the music as Frank Sinatra, and she grinned, this music just made her feel happy and joyful and just hopeful for any sort of future. They took their seat at a small booth in the corner and ordered drinks.

"Gin and tonic," said Hermione placing the drink menu down.

"Iced tea," said George. Hermione looked at him and immediately felt guilty.

"Wait no, scratch the gin and tonic, I'll take the iced tea—"

He immediately stopped her and shook his head. He turned to the waiter.

"She will have the gin and tonic." He said. The waiter turned and left.

"You didn't have to, now I feel bad." She said.

"Just because I can't currently drink, does not mean that you have to suffer. You're forced to endure my company, so you might as well enjoy it," he said. She blushed.

"So do you come here often?" She asked grinning. George smiled.

"It's really the best place to get away from it all," he said, "At least during the war, this was one place that always seemed happy no matter what." He grinned. Hermione bounced along with the music. "Why?" George asked. Hermione shrugged

"Just seems really old fashioned," she said leaning forward onto the table. "Like somewhere my grandparents would come on a regular basis." George laughed.

"That's what's great about this place, although there are older people, young people, especially girls come here just to dance without being groped." He winked. Hermione's lips pursed as she realized the true nature of the twins' excursions. Hermione sighed and shook her head disapprovingly.

"What?" George asked, "Its pretty perfect. We'd be each other's wingmen and then meet women and if we never wanted to see them ever again, we could 'magically' disappear, as it were," he laughed. Hermione groaned at his pun as their drinks arrived.

"You, sir, are a terrible person," she said playing with the straw of her gin and tonic. The music slowed down to a slow moving romantic son as their conversation lulled. Hermione took this time to take a good look at George. While the concealment charm did not cover the gaping hole, it managed to draw attention away from it, so if one were not even looking for it, they would only see two ears. It was extremely clever, she thought. His hair was tied back, and she could finally see his face, one that had been hidden by the scraggly beard. While his eyes did not contain any sort of happiness, and they still seemed full of grief, there was something else that she couldn't place. She looked down at her glass when she realized that she was staring quite intently.

"Have you heard from Ron?" He asked. Her head snapped up.

"He's sent me a few letters, he's just so busy with training that he does not have time to really send me anything. Last letter he sent was about four lines, just said he missed me and hoped he could see me soon," she said. George nodded.

"When is he coming back?" He asked.

"Well two weeks right now, for a week," she said. George smiled, and felt a little bit of a twitch in his stomach. He was jealous of his younger brother? How was this possible? Sure Hermione had become the biggest part of his life, but how could he be jealous of his little brother's girl?

"So I take it you guys are going really well?" George asked. Hermione nodded, but he wasn't sure if it was just the sheer hope in his heart that was building, but he noticed her heart was not at all behind her affirmation. He smiled awkwardly and took a sip of his iced tea.

"D'you want to dance?" George asked her after a little bit. Hermione nodded.

"I would love to," she said. He jumped out of the slightly elevated booth and held out his hand. The music changed from slow to slightly faster, as _Dancing Cheek to Cheek_ began to play. Hermione let out a laugh as she and George began to dance. He had his hand on the small of her back, she had hers on his shoulder and they both began to sway.

"What?" George asked.

"My grandparents' first dance," said Hermione, "After they got married." George smiled as he twirled her around. Hermione squealed in joy. "I didn't know you knew how to dance!" She exclaimed. George nodded.

"I could say the same about you," he said. "Where and when did you learn?"

"Well, before the Yule Ball, we had those lessons," she said, "And well, I had so much fun, when me and my parents went to go visit my grandparents before their wedding, we took dancing lessons." She smiled. He twirled her around again, watching her dress flare up and show a bit of her thigh. He mentally slapped himself. "Your turn," she said.

"What?"

"Where did you learn how to dance?" She asked. George looked around.

"Well, I mean, it's a prerequisite for coming here," said George, "How would I be if I stumbled across the dance floor, fell flat on my face, held up my hand and said, 'Hello, I'm George, care to "fall" in love with me?'" He laughed at his own joke. Hermione pushed him softly and he clutched his shoulder in mock pain. "Abuse! Woman, you need to stop that!" He exclaimed. Hermione shook her head as the music came to a close. They all clapped for the band and headed back to their booths where they asked the waiter for refills on their drinks. They continued to talk about everything and nothing, each forgetting the outside world with each drink.

"And then there was just this loud explosion, and all I remember is laughing hysterically, and me and Fred were sprawled in the hallway and Umbridge was suddenly bright purple." They both laughed hysterically.

"I don't remember this happening," said Hermione. George shook his head and stared down on the faint scar on the back of his hand. He held it out.

"Evidence of my war against the machine," he said in his best victorious soldier's voice. Hermione held his hand and looked carefully at the faded scar on the back.

"I must not play practical jokes on people," she read aloud.

"Right painful that one," said George as Hermione stroked it absentmindedly. "Essence of murtlap helped a lot by the way, thank you." He said with a wink.

"No problem," she said tapping her hand on the wood. She stared at George and his drink, he was doing well, not drinking alcohol, for the obvious reason.

Hermione blushed, an obvious effect of the alcohol. She released his hand as they finished their drinks and looked at her watch.

"Well it's getting almost ten, and we have that meeting at Gringott's at noon, so we probably should be heading off," she said. George pulled her wrist and looked at her watch.

"Bloody hell," he said, "It is." He lifted up his hand and waved a waiter over.

"Can we have the check?" He asked. The waiter nodded and promptly left. He leaned over the booth and looked at Hermione.

"What?" She asked. He shook his head and smiled.

"No…nothing," he said pensively. A small smile crossed his face.

"What?" Hermione asked, a little more uncomfortable with the staring. George laughed a little bit to himself.

"I'm just imagining what Fred would say if he knew that you would be helping me re-open my store." He laughed. "Boy I would love to see his reaction. I mean—if I could see his reaction, you wouldn't be helping me out in the first place." He shrugged, "Life is funny like that." Hermione cocked her head as the waiter laid the check down on the table.

She had always noticed this difference about the twins. George always took more time to react, he never spoke much, and he was rather quiet, timid even. Fred always brought out the, well, not worst per say, but the most rambunctious in him. She reached for her purse as George pulled out a twenty-pound note.

"George," she said warningly.

"What?" He asked, "It's on the company." He winked and set his money down. He stood up before her, quickly picking up her sweater which she had laid to her side and helped her put it on. They both exited the pub and entered the streets of London. Because it was a Friday night, the streets were crowded with people. Groups of friends walked side-by-side, chatting; couples walked arm-in-arm, enjoying each other's company, families walked hand-in-hand, laughing as they enjoyed the perfectly calm and peaceful Friday night. Hermione looked around, enjoying the peace. As she did, she hit a cobblestone and stumbled a little, George noticing her misstep quickly placed his arm around her in order to steady her. When she was finally standing steadily, George's arm remained around her. She laughed awkwardly.

"Whoa Nellie," he said.

"That didn't happen," she said as he quickly removed his arm.

"What didn't?" He asked grinning.

"Exactly," said Hermione.

"Whoa Nellie?" She asked, confused at his choice in words. He shrugged.

"Which way do you live?" He asked. Hermione pointed down the street.

"Nearby, actually, couple blocks down, near Covent Garden," she said. They began to walk towards her flat. "I'll be fine, you don't need to walk me," she said.

"I wouldn't be a proper gentleman if I didn't walk you home." He said.

"But—" Hermione began to complain.

"Shh," said George. "I'm walking you and then I'll just apparate from your room back to my flat, plain and simple." Hermione groaned.

"Fine." She said. He took her arm in his and they walked slowly back to her flat.

"So tell me more about this Colonel Brandon," said George, "He sounds oh so _fascinating._" Hermione stopped walking and smacked his shoulder. George smiled cheekily.

"What?" He asked. Hermione shook her head and continued to walk, not saying anything.

"I'm just trying to make conversation!" He said.

"Git." She stated stifling a small smile. George chuckled.

"Is Harry still going to be here when Ron gets back?" He asked. Hermione nodded.

"Yeah, that's Harry's last week off," she said. "Why?" George turned to her, they both stopped walking.

"Well…" He said "I was thinking…maybe both of us could have a preview sort of party. We'd have a bunch of samples of the new products and of course the popular old ones, and dinner. I could invite some of my best former clients, just to get excitement back up in the shop…and basically it would be a test run."

"Oh!" Said Hermione, "And we could organize a sort of reception afterwards!" She got really excited at the idea.

"And it'd be a proper party, not those horrid wine-and-cheese tasting. I think Fred would actually throttle me from the beyond." George said. She suddenly turned to him at the mention of Fred's name. True he had been telling stories all night about his antics and his brother, but mentioning his present condition was not one that she was used to.

"What?" He asked. Hermione shrugged.

"I dunno," she lied.

"I know he's dead Hermione," he said, "Nothing to do about that…unless you have a time turner on you." He chuckled awkwardly. "I figure the more I say it, the more I'll believe it." Hermione reached over and grasped his hand reassuringly. Initially his hand clenched in surprise, and then it relaxed and reciprocated the gesture.

"Hey," said Hermione. They began to walk again.

"What?" George asked in a sort of restrained voice, choking something back. She turned and looked at him.

"As long as this," she laid her hand on his heart, "is here…he'll always be alive." He sadly smiled.

"What Granger," he said, holding back the welling of emotion, "do you have your own pasturizer?"

"Why?" Asked Hermione.

"Because of all your cheese!" He said. She started laughing, and he joined in alongside her.

"That was terrible." She said. George shrugged. Hermione punched him lightly on his shoulder as they made their way down the street. After a few more minutes, she turned on a side street and then into an alley, and a small door, initially invisible, appeared on the end. She opened the door and they both made their way up the stairs to the third floor and she opened the door to her small flat. George walked in and looked around. The flat overlooked Trafalgar square on one side, and seemed to have a partial view of the Thames.

"Bloody hell," he said. "What a view." Hermione smiled and nodded putting her keys down in a small drawer and going into the kitchen. He heard the water running and Hermione drinking some water.

"Can I get you some tea?" She asked, popping her head through the window that looked into the kitchen. George turned around and shook his head no.

"I should probably go," he said. "Getting late, and we do have the meeting tomorrow." Hermione was leaning against the doorframe into her living room. George walked over to her and hugged her tightly. "Thank you for tonight…and everything." He said. Hermione kissed him quickly on the cheek and he returned the favor.

"No problem. I will meet you at 11:45 in front of Gringott's then?" George nodded hugging her tightly again. He then took a step back and apparated with a loud _pop._

===10 years later===

"Malfoy, where were you yesterday?" He said to Draco as soon as he walked into the office.

"Away," said Malfoy curtly sitting down at his cubicle.

"You missed the Robinson family, the Johnson family, the Ericson family, and the Smithson family."

"I'll get them tomorrow along with O'Reilley, O'Donnel, and O'Brien," said Draco, reading his next three off on a list.

"Very well, you better finish on time," said Ron popping his head into the cubicle area. Draco rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath.

"Whatever you say Weaselby," he grumbled. Ron groaned and walked towards his office, clutching the map of New York he had found on Malfoy's desk. He looked at the circled portion that had a question mark on it. He wondered what could have taken up so much of Malfoy's time that he had missed three out of the six families that he was supposed to pre-counsel. He sat down in his spacious office littered with various posters and banners. They all said one thing_, Ron Weasley for Foreign Minister. _He sighed and looked at the map again, also casting a spell to see where Malfoy had been last. Because of the trace put on him as a part of his parole, and because Ron was his direct supervisor, he could monitor the blond wizard's actions.

"New York?" He was confused, Malfoy's jurisdiction did not spread that far, and the only reason he would have gone to New York was if there was a British family residing there that had a magical child. That way they would have the option of sending their kids to the Salem Academy or Hogwarts. He stood up and began to walk over to Malfoy's cubicle, and then decided better. If he asked that pompous git, there is no way that he would be told the truth. He sighed and made his way to the break room where Harry was sitting and reading the _Daily Prophet._

"Hey mate," said Ron going into the fridge and pulling out a bottle of soda.

"Hello Ron," said Harry. "You coming to James's birthday party next week?" He asked.

"Wouldn't miss it," said Ron. Harry grinned as Ron sat down across from him.

"Slow day?" Harry asked.

"Slow day." Said Ron sipping his drink and tapping the wooden table.

"Well elections are coming up soon," said Harry. Ron groaned.

"Why did I ever decide to run for public office? It's way too hard, and I'm almost never home. I haven't seen Parvati in Merlin knows how long. Not to mention Sam and Savi," he said. "In no time they will be going to Hogwarts and of course that's when I will be free from all of this!" He exclaimed. Harry laughed.

"Don't worry, at least it's not Voldemort." He winked and subconsciously rubbed his scar. It didn't hurt anymore; he just felt it twinge a little every time he thought of that past.

"Malfoy's been acting a bit odd lately," said Ron. Harry looked up.

"What did he do now?"

"I dunno, he's just been, well…odd. Like today, he was only supposed to talk to three families, not too hard. He skived them off and ran off to the US…New York to be exact."

Harry cocked his head in confusion.

"Not only that," said Ron, "But he also was mainly in muggle New York, from what I see. I doubt he knows any muggles, so there's something going on." Harry chuckled.

"I'm sure he just dipped down there after someone said they have the best _hot dogs_." He winked.

"No, no, he had that guilty look on his face," said Ron. "He's up to something, I know it!"

"And you're sure Parvati won't mind helping out?" Harry asked. Ron looked at him quizzically.

"What's going on Potter?" Draco asked going into the break room.

"Just planning James's birthday party," said Harry. "Will you be joining us? I don't think I got an RSVP from you."

"Oh? No, I won't be able to make it. Sorry, Scorpius has dragon pox."

"I'm sorry," said Harry. Ron rolled his eyes.

"Well, see you later Potter," he said turning to exit, "Weasleby." Ron mocked him as he left.

"I don't understand why you're friends with him," said Ron.

"He's served his time," said Harry, "He deserves some semblance of a second chance, I guess. Why do you care so much where he was?" Harry asked. Ron stared at him angrily.

"Because, Harry," he said, "If he cocks up, it's my arse on the line, and not only that, it's foreign minister as well. So I'd rather he didn't." Ron got up and stormed, Harry called his name feebly from the break room, but he didn't turn around. He walked into his office and slammed the door shut. He stared at the map and thought, _Where could he have gone? What could he have done? _He stood up and decided to apparate to the last place Draco had apparated from, it'd be the only way to figure out his odd behavior for the past three days. He closed his eyes, pulled out his wand and felt the familiar gut wrenching sensation of being pulled overseas. He sighed as he looked down the row of brownstones; no one was on the street. It was around nine in the morning. He looked up the stairs to the brownstone that he had just apparated in front of. He slowly walked up the stairs, feeling an odd sense of foreboding. When he got to the top of the stairs, he saw the list of residents and the calling bells for each one. His heart stopped as he saw the final one.

_Granger. _

* * *

Ahhh! I know, a little on the short side! But stuff happened, both in the past and in the present!! Definitely review, I live on those. Thank you for reviewing to those who have already. And I know there are a LOT of storylines going on. I promise most everything (at least everything important) will come together at the end, please bear with me, and thank you SO SO much for reading! I do this for y'all! :D

I love you guys!!!!!!


	6. The One With a Bang

(A/N) Yay! New chapter! Sorry it's so short, crazy week. Hopefully this chapter is good though!!! Lots happening. Please please please review!! The reviews I've been getting are phenomenal, I love each and every one of you :D

Ron sat on the front stoop of this brownstone. When he rang the calling bell and asked for Hermione, he was told she was still at the hospital, and that her shift would end soon. He decided he would use that opportunity to sit and wait. He was shocked, after years of giving up, she had hidden herself as far away from the community as she possibly could. He held his wand and nervously fidgeted about. He hoped that this day would come, where he could confront her about the night that seemed so long ago. He did not know what he would say; however, he had a million things that he wanted to say. He then spotted a familiar head of bushy hair underneath a beret coming down the street. He immediately rose to his feet and searched his brain for anything that he could find, _Well well well, look what we have here,_ he could also say, _"Well Hermione, looks like you couldn't hide forever." _Instead, all he could do was step in front of her and say.

"Hello."

Hermione looked up at him, shocked, floored, speechless. She immediately grabbed a hold of the banister.

"Ronald," said Hermione. She clutched her breast, her breathing going faster and faster. She walked up the stairs quickly, pulling out her key and turning it in the lock. She held the door open for him and he followed her up the stairs and into the last apartment. It was rather large, at first glance. It was much larger than anything in London.

"Can I make you some tea?" She asked. Ron nodded.

"That would be lovely." He heard the faucet running and several clicks as she busied herself in the kitchen. He looked up at the picture frames, there were several pictures of Hermione with a young child. This child seemed to dominate the photos scattered around, and they all were rather stagnant. He heard her footsteps approaching into the sitting room.

"Oh I'm so sorry," she said. "Can I take your jacket?" He nodded and handed her his coat and she went to the closet in the hallway to hang it up. As the water in the kettle came to a shrieking boil, the two of them sat silently in her sitting room.

"You look good," Hermione said honestly after a while. Ron stared down at the ground, obviously getting angrier by the second.

"You look tired," he commented, aptly.

"It's my new job," said Hermione with a smile. They both awkwardly danced around the giant elephant in the room.

"Ron--," Hermione began. He shook his head, stopping her.

"What I'm just wondering is why. Plain and simple." He stared up at her, anger evident in his glare.

"I told you Ron, I just didn't feel a connection to the wizarding world anymore. It wasn't my world." She lied, tears beginning to form.

"Bollocks," murmured Ron. "Absolute bollocks." He stood up and crossed the room in a few strides and gripped her by the shoulders. "I loved you Hermione. I loved you so so much. And what do I get? A note? You couldn't even talk to me? That is _not_ the Hermione Granger I know." She continued to stare down at the ground as he let her go. She dropped back onto her couch in a wave of tears.

"I'm so sorry," she cried, "I screwed it up. I screwed everything up!" She wept. Ron took a deep breath and sat down next to her and hesitantly put his hand on her back, not denying or confirming her claim, just offering some sort of comfort.

"Why?" He repeated. "I want to know…why?"

She stood up, releasing herself from his touch and walking to the other side of the room. She took a picture of Anna down and handed it to Ron.

"She's ten." She said, simply. Ron did the calculations in his head, this must have still happened while she was among them. Suddenly the picture dropped from his hands and his eyes widened.

"Is she—," he stuttered, "Am I—?" He picked up the picture frame and stared at her closely. "But Hermione we never—"

Hermione shook her head. The realization hit him.

"Whose?" He asked.

"George," said Hermione simply.

"George?" Ron asked.

"Yeah."

"My brother—George?"

"That's the one." Hermione nodded and began to start sobbing again, her actions finally having a consequence. Ron sat down on the couch in shock. He scratched his head, in obvious confusion.

"But then—why did you—why did you run away?" He asked, obviously flustered.

"I didn't want to split you two up." She said simply. Ron cocked his head, standing back upright.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"You both had already lost a brother, I did not want you to lose another one b-be-because of me," Hermione tried to sputter out, "And-and-and I thought if I left, that at least you guys would have each other." She stood there looking dejected and defeated. Ron walked over to where she was and held her tightly kissing the top of her head.

"But we both suffered," he said after a while.

"Why?" Hermione asked into his shirt.

"We didn't have you." He said. She began to sob even harder into his shirt and he held her tightly, stroking her hair. He pulled her away and held her face in both hands.

"Hermione, I would have been upset, but I mean, we're mates…and forgive me if I sound utterly cheesy, but we'll always stick together." He stroked her cheek. "I may have loved you deeply once, but I moved on, I love another now, I have kids. Well—twins to be exact." He smiled. "I've already had my grief about it." Hermione laughed.

"I guess." She threw her arms around him again. "I thought you'd be angrier," she said scrunching up her nose. Ron smiled bashfully.

"Being the dad of two two-year-olds, teaches you immense patience." He said, eyes widening. Hermione laughed.

"I can understand that. One is enough." She groaned while laughing. The teakettle finally clicked finished, and Hermione walked into the room. Ron meandered over and leaned on the doorframe. "So how is everyone else?" She asked.

"Harry's got two kids," said Ron, "James and Albus Severus."

"Albus what?" Hermione asked.

"Albus Severus."

Hermione grinned.

"He would," she said pouring the hot water into two cups. She pulled the tea bags out of her drawer and dipped them into the hot water. "I supposed they're adorable," she said. She turned around. "So lets have it, who are you married to?" She asked.

"Parvati," said Ron.

"Parvati, really?" Hermione asked. Ron nodded with a grin.

"Well she's an editor at Witch Weekly magazine, and she also does a couple of columns at the Daily Prophet, she's really good," said Ron proudly. "Great mum too." He added. Hermione smiled nervously pulling a small dishcloth through her hands.

"I'm sure she's just awesome," said Hermione.

"You know, you're beginning to sound like a Yank," said Ron. Hermione laughed as she stirred some sugar into the cups and handed one to Ron.

"Well I have been here for 10 years," she admitted. Ron pulled a small watch out of his pocket. He placed it back in a few seconds later as they went back to the sitting room.

"Well…" said Hermione.

"Well what?" Ron asked.

"Tell me about your life, what happened?" Hermione asked.

"After you left?" Ron asked.

"Precisely," said Hermione.

"Well, I was done with special forces training," Ron began leaning back onto the sofa, "And you had been gone, and me and Harry were recruited into the Auror elite. It was pretty cool until we basically did security detail for large events, were essentially the secret service for the Minister of Magic. Well that got old pretty quickly, and pretty much as long as Harry or I were doing this…no one really tried anything on us, so we both kind of rose to the heads of the training program. Harry got Magic Defense Minister after only like two years, so as long as he's uncontested, he's got the job. Me? Well it's not been easy," said Ron.

As Ron was telling his story, Hermione had ordered pizza and they both ate as he described his life in more detail. He described meeting Parvati at a ribbon cutting, she was covering it. She ended up asking him out to dinner and they both hit it off immediately. While he was wary at first, he found love, and their relationship bloomed. Ron, sick and tired of being the head of the Aurors, described how he decided to look at other positions.

"Well since Harry had taken the post that well, I had also trained for, I started branching out internationally because a lot of foreign threats started to occur." He rolled his eyes. "So that's what I did, I worked in the Foreign Ministry, and am now currently running for Foreign Minister of Magic. And that's the long and short of it." Ron said. He smiled. Hermione looked down at the ground.

"Well what can I say Ronald, I guess you never actually needed me." Hermione laughed, standing and picking up his plate. She noticed that while she had only two slices, he managed to finish up the entire pie. She laughed, _some things never change, _she thought, sticking the plates in the fridge. She heard Ron's voice from behind her, and she experienced a rush of déjà vu.

"So what about you?" Ron asked. "I see the pictures all along here, and your hospital access badge." He picked it up. "Doctor Mia Granger, M.D.," he said. "Mia?"

"Was sick of people calling me Hermy-one," she laughed, "You know Americans. " She laughed. "Mia was just—simpler," she said. Ron snickered.

"Do you miss it?" He asked. Hermione stopped the water running and put the dishes on the dish rack.

"Every freaking day," said Hermione.

"Come back," said Ron. Hermione turned and shook her head, leaning against the sink.

"I know it sounds weird, but I've built a life for myself here for the past ten years. I know I have always been running away from something—but it's not so easy to drop everything and just go back." She said. Ron crossed his arms and nodded. As he did, he managed to glance at his watch.

"Bloody hell, well Hermione, it's been absolutely brilliant chatting with you. I just have to go—make a speech, you know, for the elections—wait until Harry finds out where you are," he said excitedly.

"No," said Hermione.

"What?"

"Don't tell Harry," she said.

"Why?"

"Or George."

"Hermione."

"I'm just not ready for everyone to find out yet. Anna and me have a life here, and I don't want to flip it around in one day. I guess it's all well and good that you know," she said. She sipped at her cup. "It's just—I need time, I've been here working at something for ten years, devoted to it, I have to make a decision." She walked up to Ron and put her hands on his shoulders and looked into his eyes. "Please just don't tell anyone."

"Fine," said Ron. "But you have to tell George. I want you to tell him—everything, be honest. If you don't, I will." He said, a hint of developing anger, or was it frustration. He turned and apparated on the spot with a loud crack. As soon as that occurred, Anna's nanny walked into the room carrying a few bags of groceries.

"What was that?" She asked in her sweet soft French accent.

"What was what?" Hermione asked.

"I head voices," said the Nanny putting the grocery bags in the kitchen.

"Oh Emma, that was just the TV," said Hermione, "I had it on for a bit."

"Oh, alright," said Emma hesitantly. She laughed a little, nervously of course. "Well I'm going to go study for class, do you need anything. Hemrione shook her head, wrapping her sweater tighter around herself. She took her mug of tea and headed to the sofa, turning on her television. She didn't even watch, her mind was in other places.

"Oh my blo—"

George walked into the front of the store and did a quick spin in his spot.

"I clean up nice don't I?" He asked with a wink. If this were a cartoon, Hermione was sure her jaw would be on the floor and the only sound coming out of her mouth would sound something like _awooga awooga_, instead, she managed to compose herself.

"Yes George, you look rather handsome."

He had cut his hair, so that it was considerably shorter, but still covered the top of his ears. He was wearing a brown pinstripe suit with a white dress shirt and a brown tie. His blazer was buttoned up and both pieces showed off a considerably lean body. To prove that he was still somewhat of a joker, he wore plain white converse trainers instead of dress shoes.

"You look rather nice yourself," he said looking her up and down. She wore a white blouse tucked into a high-waisted black skirt. Black stockings covered her shapely legs and she wore pumps.

"Do you have all your papers?" She asked. He held up a blue portfolio and opened it, showing her all of his documents in order to apply for a loan. Initially, he had used the money from the Tri-Wizard Tournament in order to open shop, but now since he had been closed for so long and had used up most of the prior profits, he needed to secure a fairly sizable loan to procure the reopening of the store. He put the portfolio underneath his arm and put his hands in his pockets.

"Sooo, we off then?" He asked. Hermione nodded. They exited the store and onto the street.

"Did you lock up?" Hermione asked. He held up one finger to her, telling her to wait. He pulled his wand out of his pocket and murmured something, the doors of the store clicked shut and the store itself seemed to chirp, like a car locking up.

"Yeah? Yeah?" He asked. Hermione rolled her eyes and sighed.

"You have to admit that's hilarious," He winked. Hermione tried to stifle a grin and instead began to laugh. She slapped his elbow and they continued walking the few short blocks down to Gringott's.

The meeting went well, everything was approved and since Hermione was there to co-sign his loans and her credit was incredibly secure, they managed to leave the bank with little to complain about. Since they were done earlier than they thought they would be at the bank, they went down to a sandwich shop to celebrate. She ordered a butterbeer, and he only drank some pumpkin juice. They chatted about anything and nothing. As Hermione talked George watched and noticed everything about her. The way her eyebrows moved when she got particularly passionate about something, the way her nose crinkled up when she was angry and upset, the way she threw her head back and laughed, her hand movements when she was trying to explain something huge. Even though he saw her happy and laughing, there was a distant far off look deep in her eyes, as if, even through her happiness and joy, she was lonelier than ever. She was beautiful. It was a pity he had never noticed that beauty before. She had a glow that seemed to just spread amongst everyone, her passion was unrivaled.

"What?" She asked, noticing that he was watching her.

"You look pretty," he said with a smile.

"Thank you," said Hermione. Hermione began to turn a deeper shade of red, she was not used to such a lofty compliment.

"So what next?" George asked, leaning back in his chair. Hermione shrugged.

"Well…said Hermione, I guess we start inventing." She put her mug down on the table.

"Yeah!" Said George pumping his fist into the air. He stood up with a bounce and held his arm out, after putting several galleons on the table. After doing the same, Hermione stood up as well. "Milady," he said in mock solemnity.

"Milord," she replied snaking her arm through his. They both laughed to themselves and proceeded to WWW.

George meandered to the back room while Hermione set about cleaning up the showroom. She began to pick up broken jars and bottles and various other joke items lying about on the floor. She transfigured her shoes into something more comfortable and sturdy as she walked amongst the broken jars that had collected along the floor. Throughout the day she heard mild to extreme expletives being uttered in the back rooms, usually preceded by a rather loud explosion.

George had no idea what to do. Before the war, he and Fred had developed a considerable number of ideas for products that they would use in the future, but other than that he had absolutely no idea. He decided, might as well go through what he had already, and create more products for that. Afterwards, he would set about rehiring his staff, hopefully Verity would return and eventually he could hire some more staff after Hermione went into training for the St. Mungos healer program. He would miss her most certainly, but he knew that they would both eventually have to move on. She would periodically pass the large enchanted mirror at the back of his store that he used to watch the front room when it was busy and he would watch her clean. It was a small bit of heaven, she was the only person who had been perceptive to his needs, and likewise did not let him succumb. His family had been treating him like a victim of the plague. He understood why of course

_His face. _

But it still caused him to feel more alone than ever. Hermione did not allow such foolish sentiments to come to his head. She forced him to view reality. He was forced to move past such a horrible situation and look for the future. With a smile he pulled his wand out of his back pocket, gingerly placed his blazer to the side, loosened his tie and began work, immediately being greeted by an explosion.

OoOOoOOoOOoOOoOOoOOoOOoO

George sat in his office and watched the clock tick ever so slowly. His days passed nowadays in a haze. He had a mountain of paperwork piled on his desk and several meetings lined up to ease his transition into the CEO position. He sat forward on the desk rubbing his temples.

He stood up and walked to his panoramic window and stared out into the skyline. Birds flew over the bay, and the statue herself was covered in fog. He noticed the faint glimmer of gold that usually shone in the sunlight was much duller today, clouds overhead threatening to pour their contents into the bay. He looked at his watch; in a few moments he'd grab his suit jacket, his trench coat and umbrella and head out into the streets to make his way to where he would meet with a potential client for lunch. This client was April Fools' first client in the muggle world and would allow them to expand even further than they were now. By introducing this brand new market into the sales, he would ultimately further the gains of the corporation.

He noticed a small envelope on his desk, no doubt from this morning's owl post while he was in a meeting. He picked it up and read it, it was a letter from Percy attached to a card. The card had a small picture of a stork holding a little bundle flying around the card.

_Please join us for the celebration of the birth of Percival Weasley-Jackson on the 12__th__ of December. _

He put the card down and opened the folded letter.

_Dear George, _

_It has been a while since I have last seen you. Seriously, sometimes I think you work way too hard. And this is coming from me. Anyways, I hope you'll be able to come, I do miss you and would like to chat with you and I know mum misses you dreadfully as well. Once more, I really hope to see you there and I hope you are well. _

_Percy. _

George placed the letter down and sighed. It had been several months since he had seen everyone, perhaps he'd stop by. His wand began to buzz signaling that he would need to leave soon for the meeting. He opened his small closet, pulled out his blazer and trench coat along with an umbrella and exited his office.

"Goodbye sir," his secretary said. He nodded his head imperceptibly and entered the elevators.

The rain started to pour as he stepped out onto the pavement, causing the streets to become slicker and cars to move ever so quickly and recklessly along the road. Unfortunately George failed to notice everything going on as he went over facts and figures in his head. He headed down the street, entering muggle New York as he headed where the company car would greet him. Not noticing that the light had changed, he stepped out onto the crosswalk before being hit by a car.

Hermione placed her charts down at the nurse's station.

"2304 needs new meds every 30 minutes, and I just prescribed three Percocet a day for 3450."

"Yes, doctor," said the nurse taking the charts and heading upstairs. Hermione leaned against the station in a semi-exhausted state. Jenny came and mimicked her.

"Ugh," she stated simply.

"Tell me about it," Hermione said.

"If Thanksgiving wasn't coming up, I really don't know what I'd do," said Jenny, "I need a break from this place." Hermione nodded in agreement.

"Well let's see, considering the one day I had off this week I was called in, I'd say I agree." Hermione laughed, or at least tried to laugh along with her. Her mind was still on Ron from yesterday, he was surprisingly understanding. She missed him dreadfully, but knew she could not go back, not so long as she was keeping this a secret. She didn't want to either, after all, should she just throw away ten years of her life?

"Mia!" Jenny interrupted. Hermione came out of her daze and noticed their pagers all buzzing with the trademark 911. She leapt up and they both proceeded to run to the ambulance bay putting on the yellow smocks as they did.

"What's it this time?" Margaret asked as she made it outside. She looked thrilled, as she had been doing rectal exams all morning.

"Car accident," said Dr. Fischer, the head resident. "I only need one other person on the case." The three girls stood in front of her hopefully. "Granger." She said with a slight nod. Hermione nodded in approval as the rest of the girls walked away sadly.

"Oh stop complaining," Fischer called after them. The rain seemed to be letting out around the overhang. Ambulance sirens came blaring in from the side as the two of them braced themselves for whatever should happen.

The ambulance screeched to a halt and the doors promptly flew open revealing two paramedics with incredibly bloody hands.

"30 year old male, hit by a car downtown," the one woman said as they brought the stretcher down. Hermione noticed something familiar about this person but pushed it away, the past few days had taken a toll on her.

"What do you see Granger," Fischer asked. Hermione looked as they pulled into a trauma bay.

"Sevaral bruises indicating possible broken ribs, internal bleeding, and a severe concussion to the head." She said.

"Good, page for a neuro consult," said Dr Fischer to one of the nurses. Hermione took this time to take a good look at the victim. He really did look familiar, although with the bruised face, the blood in the hair, and the swelling, she couldn't exactly tell who it was. He was laying on his side when a paramedic handed her a baggie with his personal effects, a wallet and a set of keys. Just as she was opening the wallet, the paramedic handed her something else.

"He was also holding on to this, I don't know what it is," he said. Hermione nodded, her breath catching in her throat. Although it was snapped in half, there was absolutely no denying it. She began to hyperventilate, not knowing what to do. Memories of a night ten years ago were coming back to her. A thought hit her.

_There are a lot of us, it can't be,_ she thought. She walked slowly over to the trauma room where nurses monitored him. They stepped aside as Hermione walked to the other side of his head. She slowly pushed his head to the side, making sure it faced the ceiling and all of her questions were answered immediately. She opened the baggie and her suspicions were confirmed even further as the wallet fell to the ground. Dr. Fischer came back in.

"Granger, do we have an identity?" She asked.

"Yes," said Hermione knitting her eyebrows together, willing herself to stay calm.

"Well…" said Dr. Fischer expecting something.

"G-G-George Weasley," she said, trying to compose herself.


	7. The One Where Things Move Forward

"Well, we have to get him into surgery pretty soon, he has a couple of minor abdominal tears, any family to contact?" She asked. Hermione shrugged. "Well," said Dr. Fischer looking at a nurse, "Find out if he has any next of kin in the US, otherwise, Granger, meet me in OR 2 in about 30 minutes, I need to check up on another patient. " She turned and left the room. "Make sure he's prepped for surgeries."

"Anything you need from me Dr. Granger?" One of the interns asked meekly from the curtain. Hermione nodded watching the retreating nurse.

"Yeah, just prep him for surgery," she said. "You can observe." The intern looked excited as he walked in, ready to work. Hermione broke into a run to catch the nurse.

"Um actually, I'll contact the family," said Hermione taking the information and running up to the locker room before the nurse had a chance to protest. She walked up to her locker and opened it and took her wand out of her purse. Although she hadn't used it for over ten years, she never left anywhere without it. It was her only lifeline should anything ever happen. As she picked everything up, she stared at her reflection in the mirror. She looked considerably different, she had been straightening her hair religiously, it was a darker shade of brown, and she wore blue contacts. On first glance, she was not recognizably the same person she was ten years ago. She found a business card inside his wallet and pulled out her cell phone, to call the number.

0----0

"So, preview party," said Hermione, dreading the prospect of planning a party. George looked in his element.

"Well I was thinking, we'd have basically a pretend opening of the show, and then I could just convert the back room into party space, and we'd have drinks and a DJ for dancing, for the ladies of course," he winked. Hermione slapped him playfully.

"So everyone can go back and forth between the two," said Hermione. George nodded.

"Yep, and all of the napkins, everything will be monogrammed with WWW, etc. etc, you can cover that," he said patting Hermione on the head. "Also, friends and family for the invitation, and a couple select businesses, make sure they RSVP, and I'll take care of the rest," he bowed and walked up the stairs to his flat. Hermione rolled her eyes and laughed.

In a few short weeks, they had both transformed the dilapidated store into something passable for normal, it was not yet complete, and would not be until January, but with what they had so far, it was ample for the party.

"Ron's coming down," Hermione said as she arranged the shelves. George turned and nodded. He forced a small smile. "So everyone has RSVP'd, we are going to have ourselves a party!" Hermione exclaimed. George laughed a little, hurt in his eyes as he looked around the empty store.

"He would have liked it," he said. Hermione nodded.

"Yeah, he would have. You did a great job." She smiled and began to walk towards the end of the store.

"No—," George corrected.

Hermione turned around, cocking her head.

"We did a great job." He smiled. Hermione smiled in return walking to the back room to grab another box of things. He watched her retreating figure and smiled. _George, what in the name of all that is good do you think you're doing? _The little voice inside his head asked.

"I don't know," he replied, "I don't know." He touched a small box protruding from his pocket.

"Well everything looks wonderful here," Hermione exclaimed, "Ron is coming back so I think I'm going to meet up with him right now," she said appearing. She smiled. "We're meeting for late lunch, but anyways, I'll see you tonight then!" She quickly kissed George on the cheek. He felt his ears and neck grow warm and he suspected his face matched the shade of his hair.

"Bye Hermione," he murmured as she left. He sat on the steps that led to the second floor of the shop. He leaned forward on his knees and put his head in his hands.

As soon as Hermione left the line of vision from the store, her pace slowed down and she leaned against the next alley. _"What are you doing?"_ She hissed to herself, "_You're with Ron! Stop having these feelings," _her breath caught in her throat. Over the past few days, she had grown to really care about George. Although Verity and a new girl, Emma, had come back to help out before the opening, she still spent a lot of time alone with him. Over the past week that they had cleared and cleaned the shop for the party was full of stolen glances and slight brushes with each other.

She clutched her wand tightly as she realized she was meeting Ron in a bit. She slowly took a ragged breath and exited the alley ready to walk towards the small café that she and Ron frequented. He was already sitting at a table outside wearing some sunglasses and reading a copy of the Daily Prophet.

"Well hello stranger," Hermione said kissing him on the cheek quickly and sitting down. Ron lowered his paper and took off his sunglasses, obviously extremely happy to see Hermione.

"Hey Hermione!" He said, waving the waiter over and immediately picking his menu up. Hermione shook her head, smiling, some things would never change. "Harry can't make it, he's decided he wanted to go visit Ted for the day. But he'll come down for the party," he said as the waiter hurried over.

"Are you guys ready?" The waiter asked. Ron looked at Hermione eagerly.

"You first," said Hermione.

"I'll have the chicken club sandwich and an iced tea," said Ron, handing his menu over to the waiter who was surprised at the speed in which the order exited from Ron's mouth.

"I'll have the same," said Hermione smiling, and passing her menu to the waiter as well. After the waiter left, they looked at each other, Ron seemed fascinated by her.

"What?" She asked touching her face, "Is there something there?" He shook his head.

"No, it's been a while," he smiled. "How have you been?"

"Good," said Hermione, feeling a small bit of guilt building up in her stomach.

"How's—"

"Good." Said Hermione when she noticed he had trouble asking. He nodded, sadness developing in his eyes. "He has hard days, but with the re-opening and the party tonight, he has not been able to really think about it too much." Ron nodded.

"How are your nightmares?" He asked. Hermione looked down.

"I haven't had them as much recently," she said, "I mean I can still feel her terrible hands on me sometimes, and the blade of the knife, but I've been able to sleep much better recently. I can still hear _her _voice sometimes," she said referring to Bellatrix Lestrange. She looked down at the ground. "But she's dead, so, I guess…"

Ron immediately put his hand on hers.

"You don't have to talk about it," he said, "I know." He smiled and squeezed it tightly as their food came. And just as soon as their moment began, it was over when Ron was introduced to his lunch.

"So, how's training going?" Hermione asked, picking at the chips that came with the sandwiches.

"Itsh fantashtic," said Ron with a mouthful of sandwich. He swallowed, "Bloody hard though. We've learned crazy things," he said. Hermione smiled.

"Like what?" She asked, cutting her sandwich in half and taking a small bite.

"Basically what to do in case our wands are snapped, how to perform wandless magic, strength training starts soon," he said wincing. Hermione smiled.

"I'm sure you'll be fantastic," she said eating her food. Ron noticed that she seemed oddly out of it.

"Alright there 'mione?" He asked. She nodded.

"Just thinking about tonight, George said not to worry about it—that he'd take care of everything but you know me," she laughed. Ron laughed as well.

"I do know you," he said as they finished their food. "So I was thinking we'd meet up with Harry and Ginny before the party and just head down there together," he said. Hermione nodded.

"That sounds good," she said. She began to pull out her purse when Ron put his hand on hers.

"No—let me," he said. "After all," he pointed to his chest, "I'm the man." As the waiter came by to collect their money, Ron handed him several galleons. The waiter nodded and left, only to come back a few seconds later.

"Do you have three more galleons by any chance?" He asked. Ron dug around in his pockets and searched his wallet. He then turned beet red and turned towards Hermione.

"'Mione…" he began guiltily. Hermione already had three galleons out by this point and handed it to the waiter. "Thank you," he grumbled under his breath. Hermione laughed as they both rose and she wrapped her arms around his waist tightly. When he still refused to smile, she kissed him full on the mouth. He responded with vigor, taking her hair in one hand and holding onto her waist with the other. A few moments later they parted.

"Blimey," she said. Ron looked at her cocking his head.

"Blimey?" He asked. She shrugged.

"Felt like a blimey moment," she smiled. Ron held his hand out.

"Well…shall we?" He asked, waggling his fingers. Hermione took his hand.

"We shall," she said grinning as they left the café.

Hermione heard the phone ringing on the other end.

"Good morning, George Weasley's line, this is Natasha," said a chirpy voice on the other side.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Mia Granger," Hermione said, feeling a nervous lump growing in her stomach, "I'm afraid George Weasley has gotten into a terrible accident. Is there any next of kin I may speak to?"

"Georgie?" She heard Natasha squeak, "Where is he? I'm on my way!"

"New York Mercy Memorial West, downtown by Wall Street, near Battery Park," said Hermione.

"He needs to be transferred immediately." She exclaimed. Hermione knew which hospital she wanted him transferred to, St. Mindonia, the wizarding hospital in New York.

"I'm afraid his situation is too weak to have him transfer, I can assure you he will receive the same care here as he would at St. Mindonia's," she said.

"You know about…"

"Yes, now, he will be in surgery for a while, I can contact you when he is out," Hermione said feeling oddly calm, "If you can just give me your contact information. Does he have any other family?" She asked.

"He does, but he doesn't really speak to them," said Natasha. "I would not know how to contact them."

"Alright then," said Hermione. "Fat lot of good you are," she thought.

"When will he be out of surgery?" She asked.

"Well, we have visitor's hours tomorrow, so you may come for that, he should be up by then."

"I'll be there," said Natasha, "Give Georgie a kiss for me," she said.

"Will do," said Hermione hanging up. She would contact Ron but unfortunately she no longer had an owl, or any other way of getting in touch with him. Floo was out of the question, as she did not have anymore, and she knew none of the Weasleys had a telephone, although she could contact Harry. But she didn't know his number either. She sat down on the bench and furrowed her eyebrows together. As she did, her pager buzzed. She looked at the pager and ran down to the operating room. She quickly grabbed a face mask and opened the door.

"Petersen had to leave, you okay with scrubbing in?" Dr. Fischer asked as Hermione poked her head in. She immediately nodded and rushed into the scrub room, washing her hands and putting on her surgical cap. She then rushed into the operating room where scrub nurses helped her into the operating scrubs and helped her put on gloves over them. She took a deep breath and walked over to the table, the beeping noise of his heart being the only thing keeping her sane.

"Is he okay?" Hermione asked. Dr. Fischer nodded her head.

"Unfortunately this bleed was more—suction—extensive than we thought," she said. "I need you to suture," she said to Hermione, "just go through everywhere with minor tears and suture like you've never done before, and then I'll have you help me with his small bowel tear."

"Right," said Hermione holding back her retching and trying very hard to continue with the surgery.

After several grueling hours in surgery and then having and orthopedic surgeon check his bones to make sure his fractures were no more than just that, George was finally left to recover in a small private room. Hermione sat at his side patiently.

"Hey Emma," she said on the phone, "I'm stuck at work, so I'll be home late."

"Okay," said Emma, "Anna's already gone to bed, let me know if you need anything." Hermione smiled and hung up. George groaned softly in his sleep. As soon as he showed signs of waking up, Hermione leapt up and quickly exited the room. She pressed her back against the wall and heard him curse to himself. She took several deep breaths and remained.

"Hello?" George asked, "Is anyone there. Where am I?" He asked. Hermione looked down at the ground and headed the opposite direction. In spite of everything, she still was not ready.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Hermione? I'm sure you look fine," said Ron.

"Hold on Ron! I'll be out in a minute!" She exclaimed from the bathroom, frantically putting on makeup and removing it if it did not look good. Ron came by every five minutes on the dot and pounded on the door.

"Hermione! George expected us five minutes ago!" He exclaimed, "Harry and Ginny are already there, they're wondering where you are!" Hermione rolled her eyes and she looked at the floor length mirror. She wore a little black party dress she had; it had just the right amount of sparkle to make it interesting rather than gaudy. Her hair was tied back in a side ponytail, and her hair cascaded down her left shoulder in loose well-managed curls. Her makeup was simple, yet elegant, showcasing her eyes and lips. She took a deep breath and walked out into the hallway.

"Bloody hell," said Ron. "You look brilliant!" He kissed Hermione deeply.

Taken aback by his sudden reaction, Hermione was already swept off of her feet by the time her brain could come up with something.

"We should go," she said, in between kisses, as Ron pushed her up against a wall.

"Are you sure," he said huskily, stroking her arm. She nodded and looked down, her forehead touching his. He kissed her jawbone.

"Alright," he said. "But we are so picking up from here tonight," he said, his hand grazing her hip. She only replied with a kiss. They both side-along apparated into Diagon Alley and walked into the store. The store was lively and music was bursting from the walls and suddenly she felt herself being lifted up from behind.

"George!" She squealed as she felt herself lowered again.

"Blimey, took you long enough," he said as she turned around and hugged him. He took a step back and saw her outfit, his breath caught in his throat. "You---well, you look like a girl." He said.

"Aptly observed," she replied dryly.

"Very pretty girl," he repeated. She blushed.

"Thanks," she said. He bowed.

"How do I look?" George asked striking a Captain Morgan like pose. Hermione laughed.

"You look great," she said. Ron had his hand on the small of his back until Harry showed up. It was then that he excused himself and walked over to him.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" George asked, as more people started showing up.

"Nah," said Hermione, "I'll get something myself." She began to walk to the back room where the music was coming from and noticed a bunch of George's friends from Hogwarts standing around, or dancing to the music being played. She walked up to the bar and ordered her drink, George came a few minutes later and sat by her.

"So what do you think?" He asked. Hermione picked up her glass and held it up, he held up a glass of tonic water.

"Cheers," she said. He smiled.

"You know, I should go into the nightclub business, this place, well, I can throw a party." He winked and turned around, leaning back on the bar with his elbows. Hermione sat on the barstool and looked where his glance fell. Ron was standing in the corner talking to Harry and Ginny, both, who looked like they would much rather prefer being by themselves.

"Excuse me," she said, "I think I see two people that need to be saved," she said, pointing to Harry and Ginny. George nodded as she made her way over to the other side of the room. She held out her hand and she and Ron meandered to the dance floor and began to dance. He sighed and looked down at his glass. His mum walked over to her and stood by him.

"Well George," she began choosing her words carefully, "I'm proud of you." She finished. He turned around. Molly hugged him tightly, and he enthusiastically returned the gesture.

"Thanks mum," he said. "Do you think he'd have like it?" He asked, his voice getting oddly strangled. Molly nodded, a tear glistening in her eye.

"You know he would have," she said. She put her hand on his cheek and then hugged him tightly. "Now, I'm going to make sure everyone has eaten something at least." She winked and squeezed her son's hand. The song drew to a close, and George found himself watching Hermione very closely. He noticed that when she danced, she tended to try and lead, whereas Ron seemed to relinquish his control almost immediately. Whilst she knew the common decorum for dancing, she grew a little frustrated by Ron's tendency to stay in one place.

"Good job," said Arthur Weasley standing beside George. "I especially love your muggle products." He said excitedly.

"Thanks Dad, Hermione's idea actually, trick cards and such," he said.

"Be careful," said Arthur. George turned to him.

"What?"

"Sometimes, you spend enough time with a product, and you fall in love with it, but you don't realize that the copyright is currently owned by someone else. Make sure to follow copyright laws, or else someone will get hurt," he said pointing his head towards Hermione. George understood what his father was trying to say.

"Dad," he moaned, "Don't worry 'bout it, I know what I'm doing."

"I hope so," said Arthur. He patted George on the back and walked away.

After several songs, George continued to watch Hermione with Ron. She looked happy and so did he, he wished there was something he could pick at. Growing slightly fed up, George picked up a bottle of wine and walked out the side entrance and sat on the stairs leading down to the alley. Moments later, Hermione joined him.

"Needed some fresh air," she said, "Got tired of dancing." George nodded taking a swig of the bottle of wine. He stared intently at the label, seemingly concentrating on the ingredients.

"Party's a success," said Hermione. George grunted in response. She cocked her head in confusion. They sat outside in total silence as he fought to not make eye contact with her. George knew if he looked at her, he would lose all of his self-control and kiss her. Although he knew that this was not a legitimate ulterior action, that this behavior of his would not be too pleasantly received, he did not want to do anything stupid. After a few more minutes, Hermione sighed slightly angrily and walked inside.

After a few more minutes, George managed to clear his head and he walked inside the building. People had begun to leave and Verity reported a significant amount of sales had been made. Pretty soon it was just his family and Hermione that remained. As they were leaving, George spoke to Harry at length, determined not to speak to Hermione. As soon as he was done speaking to Harry, he noticed everyone else had gone and he bade his farewell and began to wave his wand about clearing the store. As he cleaned, he heard the jingle of the bells.

"What was that?" Hermione asked, confusion evident in her voice.

"What was what?" George asked. She strode over to him and stopped his hand from waving his wand.

"You act extremely friendly towards me towards the beginning of the party and at the end, I couldn't be more distant!" She exclaimed. George took a deep breath.

"Wanna dance?" he asked. Hermione cocked her head.

"What?" She asked.

"Well, as much as I adore hearing you yell, I also love dancing, and I didn't get to tonight. So…do you want to dance?" He asked. He held out his hand and waggled his fingers expectantly. Hermione rolled her eyes and took his hand and they danced slowly.

"There's no music," she said. He snapped his fingers and Sinatra's _The Way You Look Tonight _came on. They danced to the beat and he twirled her around several times. He then brought her close and her head rested on his chin as they danced in a small circle on the dance floor.

"How's this for music?" He whispered into her ear throatily. She nodded, her heartbeat quickening.

"…_and that laugh wrinkles your nose, it touches my foolish heart," _George sang along. He had one hand on the small of her back and the other clasped in hers. He stroked her back with his thumb tenderly. She looked up into his eyes and smiled as they continued dancing, in a surprise move, he twirled her around and scooped her into a dip. They remained in that position for several seconds after the dénouement of the song. She rose and stood on both her feet, but he still had his arms wrapped around hers and her around his. They stared into each other's eyes.

"Where's Ron?" He asked.

"He has to get up early tomorrow, he left," said Hermione, never removing herself from George's gaze. He let one hand travel up her spine, leaving goosebumps as they went. He then let it trace a line on her neck and down her shoulder and up and down her left arm. She slowly brought her hand up and it touched the faint scars on his ear.

"The music stopped," said George.

"Did it?" Hermione asked, tracing a path down his cheek and back to where his ear was cursed off. George nodded also caressing her cheek.

"Does it hurt?" She asked, referring to his ear.

"Sometimes," said George honestly, covering her hand with his. His other hand still rested on the small of her back as he leaned down to capture her lips in a deep kiss. She responded with such strong enthusiasm, grabbing fistfuls of his hair in her hands as she pulled his face in to deepen the kiss. His hands travelled up and down her back and on the back of her head. After several moments together, they both parted, out of breath.

"I have to go," said Hermione, "Ron, he may be waiting up for—" with that she quickly disapparated leaving a very confused George in her wake.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Hermione sat in the locker room. She wanted to cry, but tears were just not coming at this point. Due to her exhaustion and frustration, she just did not have the will left in her to cry. She held a picture of Anna in her hands, a reminder for why she was here, why she was willing to suffer through all the pain. Because, at the end of the day, she had the best thing anyone could ever ask for. She smiled and clutched the picture close to her heart and leaned against the locker.

Although the call that Natasha answered had actually rendered Hermione sick and nauseous, she understood, somewhere down the line, George would actually need to move on. She could not blame him for that, after all, with all the crap she pulled on him, she was surprised that he did not have a litter of kids already. Or maybe he did, but she realized that there was no point to dwell on it. What's done is done, and she knew that she would have to move on as well.

"Mia?" A voice called from outside the locker room.

"Here," said Hermione, her voice oddly strangled. Jenny walked into the room, and sat on the bench.

"You alright?" She asked. Hermione shook her head.

"Just one of those nights," she said. Jenny nodded.

"Well, I talked to Fischer and she said you could go home if you wanted to, you've had a long day and you've been on call for so long. Go home and get some sleep," she said. Hermione nodded.

"I guess," she laughed. "So what about those stories you wanted to tell me?" She asked feigning interest.

"Ugh," Jenny rolled her eyes, "Mark." She referred to Dr. Wright, the attending with which she had been having problems with of late. "He's just starting to avoid me. I think that the huge GI dissection from last week really got to him." She said staring down. "Anyways, it's a work in progress so I'll tell you the whole thing tomorrow." She winked and squeezed Hermione's hand as her pager buzzed.

"Shit," she said. "I'll see you later?"

"Yup," Hermione nodded as she rushed out of the room.

Hermione then took her time changing into street clothes and found a small scrap of paper in her jacket's pocket. She opened it and recognized it as the number that Ryan had given her the other day in front of Anna's school. She smiled and was about to throw it away when she relented.

After all, she should probably move on as well, it had been eleven years. Ron had moved on, so had George apparently. She could not be stuck in the past forever. Taking a deep breath, she took the number and pulled out her cell phone and began to dial.

"Ryan speaking," He said, picking up after the third ring.

"Hey Ryan, its Mia, from the other day, in front of Springdale Elementary," said Hermione pulling on her jacket and walking through the halls.

"Hey Mia!" He said excitedly, "I didn't think you'd call."

"I'm not disturbing you am I?" Hermione asked warily as she exited the Hospital and began her long walk towards her home.

"No, not at all!" He said.

Hermione broke out into a grin. "So Ryan, I was wondering, would you like to get dinner with me tomorrow?"

"Sure!" He said, "Just let me check my—oh what do you know, I'm free. I can meet you at the hospital you work at around 8," he said. "I know you'll probably be working until then."

"I probably will be," said Hermione. "That'll be great, it's New York Mercy Memorial West," she said.

"Sheesh," said Ryan, "long title. Well anyways, I will pick you up at 8." He smiled. Hermione felt a little hopeful, she was finally moving forward.

***** A/N *******

OOOOO I know, I'm evil right? Yeah I know Hermione is moving on, and I'm hoping for a happy ending (as far as I can tell), but every good story needs contention/conflict, so I'm just adding as much as I can haha. Well I will put in my usual plea for reviews, they make me update much much faster, and thank you for all the reviews I have been getting. Sorry I can't reply to them, I promise I will when I have more time. Now I'm just using all of my free time to write this! :D

Anyways, LOVE you all!! Please review!! 3


	8. The One Where George and Hermione

(A/N) Sorry for the delay! Enjoy!

George woke up in the morning in a blur. He could not remember how he had gotten to his bed, he just remembered the latter end of the party. Once he had gotten his hands on the bottle of wine, most of the night seemed hazy for him. He remembered vaguely dancing and singing, and then somehow ending up lying on his bed fully clothed. He rolled out of bed and dragged himself to his washroom. He finally made it to the mirror and noticed his hair matted and face wet, as if he had been crying all night. Dark circles under his eyes greeted him unhappily, and a light stubble formed across his chin. He leaned forward against the sink as the mirror commented.

"Oh dear."

"Shut up," said George as he shut the mirror and picked up the toothbrush to brush his teeth. He went over his normal morning routine, adding a pepper-up potion to his breakfast, and soon felt ready to go to work. As soon as he made it to the labs, he saw Hermione sitting working on a bunch of his patent paperwork. In a sudden epiphany, he recalled the rest of what occurred that night.

"Hey," said Hermione nervously. He ignored her and went to the front of the store to clear some stuff up.

Hermione groaned and leaned against the table. She had way too much to drink last night, and slow reflexes seemed to be the blame for everything. Or at least, that's what she told herself was the blame for everything. She rubbed her eyes with her fingers and continued to fill out more paperwork. She tried not to think about dancing to the music last night. She tried to forget his hands on her waist, or his lips touching hers. She tried to forget how she felt when his hand would brush up against her arm. She tried to forget the goosebumps, and her quickening heartbeat.

"Stop it Hermione!" She said to herself. "Stop it."

O0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"You look beautiful," said Ryan standing up as Hermione walked into the main waiting room. "I mean, Jesus Christ." He smiled. Hermione couldn't help but blush.

"Thanks, you look good too," she said.

"Nah, just work clothes," he said. "Well shall we? I have reservations at Le Petit Fleur, hopefully you like French food. I mean I never know really, it's hit or miss. I mean, their dessert is really good, and boy can they cook a steak—"

"I'd love to," Hermione interrupted. She laughed and they both walked out of the hospital. "Where is it?" She asked as they walked down the street.

"Just a couple blocks down from here, I only work around the corner, Wall Street," he said flashing his teeth.

"Oh?" Hermione asked, clearly preoccupied. They walked in relative twitchy silence towards the restaurant. The cars and the chatter and the smell seemed to drown out any prerogative for conversation. Hermione spent the entire walk thinking about George, and how nauseated she was when she heard the simpering sing song voice of his secretary. It was shocking though, from her voice she did not sound remotely the type of woman that George would ever consider, or was she? She attempted to chase all thoughts of George from her head as she felt Ryan's arm moving her out of the way of a hot dog cart that was packing up and moving.

"Shit," she said laughing. Ryan laughed alongside her.

"You alright there?" He asked. She nodded.

"I'm fine," she said thoroughly embarrassed. As soon as they walked four more blocks, however, they finally arrived at a small French bistro.

"Here we are then," said Ryan. "Le Petit Fleur." He butchered the French severely, and seemed to know it. They both sat at a small table outside, lit up only by candles and streetlamps, and the headlights of a swarm of cars. Still, In New York City, this was as peaceful and as quaint as they get.

"I gotta be honest," said Ryan after they were seated and menus were given to them, "I haven't been on a date since a couple of disastrous blind dates after my wife died," he said, a tone of sadness in his voice. Hermione smiled reassuringly.

"Well if it makes you feel better, I haven't had a date in over 4 years, having a child and being in medical training kind of puts a damper on that. So I'm just as stunted as you are," she said with a smile. His face grew brighter and his eyes crinkled as his nervousness began to fade. He slapped the table with his hand and picked up the menu.

"Oookay," he said, "what am I going to eat?" He asked himself while looking through the menu. A waiter came by and asked if they would like anything to drink.

"A bottle of your nicest wine," he said grinning. Hermione smiled as the waiter walked off.

"Always pamper your dates?" She asked.

"Only the pretty ones," he winked. She sighed a little and turned a slight shade of pink. She was not used to being referred to as pretty. The rest of the date went well enough, he was nice, polite, intelligent. He was everything Hermione was looking for, including also having paternal skills, and a daughter, which was definitely a plus. All in all, he was rather perfectly boring. His jokes were tame, he talked endlessly for hours often about nothing, yet thinking he spoke of everything. She noticed the way he gestured a lot with his hands and when he laughed, his entire body responded with it. _Isn't the worst_, she thought.

"So you know where I work," said Hermione, "What do you do?"

"Publishing consultant," He said sheepishly, "It's not that flashy or as lifesaving, but I work for a bunch of different publishers and help them pick out different pitches for novels, short stories, poems, you know. I always read a lot as a child, seemed the only way to go." He looked sheepishly down at his baguette.

"That's brilliant," Hermione said, suddenly really excited, "I love reading. Seriously, when I was at school, that's all I could do, I was just buried in the library." She smiled at him and he returned the favor as their food was brought to them. The rest of the date went very smoothly as they spent the entire time discussing various books they had read and he asked for her opinion on a couple pitches he was reviewing at that time. As they walked out of the restaurant, Ryan looked at Hermione and smiled.

"This has been great," he said. "Really great." Hermione grinned back.

They both began to walk uptown.

"Where do you live again?" He asked.

"82nd and Columbus," replied Hermione, "You?"

"Oh only a couple blocks from me," and then he laughed, "well that makes sense since our daughters are in school together." Hermione laughed as well.

"Do you want to share a cab?" He asked. Hermione nodded.

"I'd love to," she said as he waved a cab over. The cab ride was fairly silent, both of them were unsure of what to say or do. They both sat beside each other and Hermione took in the view of the city from the cab and took in the lights and the sounds and the people, the normal crowd.

"So Melanie tells me that she and Anna are good friends," said Ryan. Hermione nodded.

"Yeah, they get along pretty great. Sometimes I get a little worried about them though."

"I know, I keep on hearing things from the principal about their silly pranks and general…tomfoolery," he said sounding out the last word slowly.

"Tomfoolery?" Hermione giggled. Ryan laughed as well.

"Yeah, that got away from me for a bit." He sighed, "You know what bothers me though, if the actually took the intelligence that they channel into their little schemes and jokes into something…well, something productive, well there'd be no stopping them!" He exclaimed. Hermione nodded her head vehemently.

"I'm actually surprised they turned out to be class clowns, its usually boys that do that," he added a second later. Hermione kept on feeling the lump rising from her stomach to her chest, and then back to her stomach. It was as if her nerves were playing a game of ping-pong, and no, it wasn't just any kind of game. It was the kind of ping-pong tournaments from the 1960s where the US and China would be fiercely competitive with each other.

"I mean I guess now gender just means nothing," said Hermione.

"Yeah I guess so," Ryan said. They finally arrived in front of her house and after paying the cab driver Ryan joined Hermione.

"You really didn't have to," she said. He shook his head.

"I'm the man, I should pay. Besides, I'm glad to." He grinned. Hermione smiled as well. He took her hand in his and kissed it softly.

"Madame," he said winking cheekily. "I'm sorry…he corrected himself, Doctor." Hermione smiled and leaned up and kissed him lightly on the cheek. She then ran up the stairs and opened the door, turning around once and waving. He smiled and waved back. As she entered, she heard him call after her.

"When can I see you again?" He asked. Hermione shrugged, turning around and holding the door open with her foot.

"I don't know," she said, "I guess, well, Thursday is Thanksgiving." She admitted. He nodded as well.

"Yeah I guess it is," he said.

"I have the day off," she said. He walked up the steps to join her at the top.

"Me too," he said taking a small trace of her hair and moving it behind her ear, smiling.

"Would you and Melanie like to come with me and Anna to the parade. I have tickets for one of the sections, and well, my mum and dad couldn't make it because my mum apparently need all day to cook dinner, but I mean…if you would like to…join us, I mean." She began to stutter over her words as she felt his hand slowly moving up and down her arm.

"I would love to," he whispered by her ear. He then lightly kissed her cheek, and she returned by kissing his mouth, and he returned the gesture wholeheartedly. They parted, slightly out of breath.

"Well," said Hermione, "I'll see you Thursday?" He nodded.

"I guess you will," he replied. "We'll meet you here then?" Hermione nodded unable to really speak or say anything. He leaned down, kissed her softly once more and then walked down the steps to the street. Hermione watched him as he turned onto the next street, she then turned around, took out her key and entered the brownstone.

"So I've just finished cleaning the back room, put some stuff away," said Hermione walking to the front desk after Emily and Verity left for the day. George merely grunted. "There are some items on the table, I didn't know if you wanted me to throw them away or not, I figured you would want them." Hermione continued, "But the ones I was not sure about I put on the large table." He grunted again. She stared down at her shoes. "So I'm just…going to go now," she said, "Ron's leaving tonight so we're grabbing dinner with my parents and going to a show in muggle London, should be good, so if you don't need me anymore—"

"Actually," George said as she was leaving, "I was wondering if you could help me with some of these inventions, I'm just not quite getting the spells at the same time and holding stuff together is hard…I just really need another person. You just have to hold stuff together, and I'll do the enchantments." He said. Hermione nodded.

"Sure…" she said awkwardly putting her jacket and bag down and then going over to help him without a second thought. "Only for another hour though." George flashed her a big grin and they continued working, an hour turned into two, and she kept on adding fifteen minutes until—

"No, sorry mum dad, maybe next time he's in town, I was just going to floo him so he didn't leave. Yeah just got real caught up at the store—okay thanks." George looked up as he was assembling some things together.

"Can I use your floo?" Hermione asked. George nodded as she raced upstairs. He remotely unlocked his apartment so she could get in. Of course he felt bad practically making up reasons to stay, he didn't want to keep her away from his brother, and yet he did. He was falling for the girl who saved him, falling fast and hard. Hermione came down moments later with tears in her eyes.

"You okay?" George asked. Hermione shrugged and then shook her head quickly, her talk with Ron didn't go as well as she would have hoped.

"Ever since the party last night, everything has been going wrong—never mind," she said sitting down on a wooden bench and working on mixing potions for the canary creams.

"What?" George asked, pretending to be nonchalant. When she did not answer, he stood up, and walked over to her and straddled the bench beside her so he was facing her. She purposefully looked away.

"He thinks there's something going on between us," she said. "We spend a lot of time together, and he refuses to believe its just friends or professional."

"Well—Is there?" George asked softly. Hermione turned to him; shocked he would even bring that up.

"How could you even ask me that?" Hermione asked him angrily, "I mean, you kiss me last night, so there's obviously something, you don't talk to me all day. Finally, when I'm going to meet Ron because it's his last day here until, well, January, then you decide, '_Oh I need some sodding help.'_"

"You could have left, but you stayed," he pointed out. She suddenly stood up and he mimicked her movement and stood in front of her. She shook her head and looked down. She turned and faced away from him, and he walked slowly up to her, putting his hands on her upper arms and gripping them softly, but firmly. "Hermione," he whispered in her ear. She turned around and buried her face in his chest.

"I don't know," she whispered beginning to cry harder and he began to stroke her hair.

"Me neither," he honestly answered as she cried even harder.

"No," she said after a while. "I'm with Ron, I'm happy George!" She ran out of the room and out the store.

"Well FINE!" George yelled after her, slamming the door shut as she left. He then pulled out his wand and cast a locking charm, and then proceeded to sit down on the stairs facing the door, head in his hands. A few moments later, he saw her face standing despondently at the door. He stood up slowly, uncast the charm and opened the door. As soon as she entered the store, he took her in his arms and kissed her, lifting her up as she did, and she responded with enthusiasm.

They both down on the stairs, she was nestled in his arms. They remained like this for several minutes, he was content in holding her petite form and she was happy within his broad form. They were both comfortable with each other, even long after she stopped crying. He leaned down and kissed the top of her forehead as she wiped her tears several minutes later.

"He left," Hermione whispered.

"What?" George asked,

"He left before I had the chance to explain," she said. He clenched his jaw.

"Seriously?" He asked. "Tosser." He added. Hermione let out both a giggle and a sob one traced her cheek with his hand. She stopped it with hers.

"Not here," she said. He cocked his head.

"Why?" He asked. Hermione shrugged.

"It just—I just—Anyone, including your mum and dad can walk in. And when it comes to me, I'm balancing on a tightrope with your mum, and unless I actually know where this is going, I don't think I can actually tell anyone yet." She admitted. He nodded, furrowing his brow.

"Where then?" He asked. Hermione shrugged, and suddenly her face lit up with an idea.

"So, basically, the cottage by the lake is mine in case I ever needed a quiet place to study, according to my grandmum…we could go there," she said. George smiled.

"Now?" He asked. Hermione sighed and noticed although his arms were no longer wrapped around her, they both were clasping each other's hands. Even this slightest bit of contact thrilled and terrified her. She let go of his hand, stood up and winked and disapparated. He stood up, confused as hell, but turned in his place and appeared in front of the lake.

She stood on the beach, calmly looking out at the stars beginning to form overhead, a deep streak of red splattered across the horizon. Her hair blew in the breeze, it was as if this was all a dream and he would wake up any second. The wind came faster and she wrapped her arms around herself. He quietly walked over to her, the gravel of the beach crackling underneath as he made his way over. The tall grass seemed to blow over as the wind picked up more and more.

He put his hands reluctantly on her shoulders and then caressed the length of her arms from behind. He then wrapped his arms around her waist, and she gripped onto his lower arms silently. He buried his face in her neck, getting lost in her hair and skin. They stood that way until the last of the sunset was finally visible over the horizon. Clouds were beginning to form overhead, further darkening the sky, stars peeking out from in between every cloud. Crickets chirped in the distance, and the sound of a car from a far off road could be heard.

After a moment, Hermione leaned her head on his and they both breathed deeply, smelling the fall air. She then turned around and kissed him softly at first, hesitantly, her arms around his neck. He kept his arms around her waist as they began to get lost in each other. They parted after several seconds, the dark sky hiding their flushed faces.

She said nothing; she did not need to say anything. She put a finger to his lips and took his hand in hers. She led the way, up stairs that were hidden in the small cliff's face, opened a small gate that appeared at the top, climbed a steep cobblestone pathway to a small cottage nestled in the fells. She took her wand, murmured a small incantation and the door opened creakingly for them. The inside was dark, and the wooden floorboards protested a little at their sudden intrusion. She let go of his hand.

"Wait right here," she said as she walked to the end of the hallway. Suddenly a light flickered on and the entire front hallway was bathed in light. He followed her up the stairs silently and they ended up in a rather airy loft type bedroom.

"Wow," he said.

"I know, it's not much," said Hermione humbly. George scratched the back of his head with his hand.

"Not much?!" He exclaimed, "Hermione, if I had a place like this, I would never leave." He said. They both stood awkwardly on opposite sides of the room.

"Hermione, maybe we should talk about it," he said softly. She shook her head.

"No," she said softly, "What is there to talk about anyway?" She asked walking up to George slowly, wrapping her arms shakingly around his torso. He put his hands on her shoulders.

"Are you—are you sure you want to do this?" He asked.

Hermione nodded.

"I'm sure," she said. George then leaned down and captured her lips; this time there was no hesitation or anything except pure need.

0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o000o0o0o

George woke up slowly, body aching all over. He was confused; he did not know where he was or what had happened. The last thing he remembered was stepping out into the street. His eyes began to adjust to the darkness of the room, and he noticed someone leaving.

"Hey!" He called, "Anyone there?"

_George you're being delirious_, he thought, there was probably no one there to begin with. He suddenly felt groggy, a new dose of pain killers were administered and he began to close his eyes. He woke up the next morning to nurse bumbling about. She was pretty short and reminded him a lot of Madame Pompfrey, except for her Brooklyn accent.

"Well, hello sunshine," she said cheerily fixing his blankets. "Mind if I open the blinds?" She asked. George tried shaking his head, but realized his neck was in a brace.

"No," he said croakily. The nurse smiled reassuringly.

"You may want to close your eyes," she said before she turned on the lights. He did. The sun bathed the room in a bright white glow. He could hear cars and horns being blown off at full blast.

"Well hello Mr. Weasley," she said, checking his chart. "Don't try to move too much, you got out of surgery a few hours ago. The car crash did a number on you, but you are one of our lucky ones. They want to keep you here for a few more days of observation, it might be as long as a week," she said checking his IV drip. He nodded curtly.

"What happened to my things," he asked softly.

"Oh don't try to talk too much, anesthesia tends to dry out your throat, I'd give you water but the surgeries make that impossible so I have some ice chips." she placed a couple of ice chips against his mouth and he felt much better. "Oh and your things?" She asked as he raised his eyebrow a little angrily. "Well your wallet is in that dressing table drawer over there, " she pointed, "and your clothes were pretty much damaged and covered in blood. We folded up whatever was left and put them on that chair. Sorry sir," she chirped.

George could feel each and every one of his brain cells dying individually as she chattered away. He began to try and remember bits and pieces of the crash, he remembered his wand splintering as it had been in his jacket pocket and had been crushed, he groaned inwardly. His only possible ticket out of there gone. He lay back and concentrated on trying to move his fingers and toes, but to no avail, they were either in casts or he was just way too weak. He sighed beginning to feel sorry for himself, this was the kind of thing he tried to avoid for the past ten years. By working non stop, and filling his non working hours with meaningless shags, he could actually avoid feeling the actual pain of everything that ever happened to him. Suddenly, he heard a voice that made him want to rip out his IV and jump out the window.

"Georgie!" The annoying voice of his secretary hit him immediately. He closed his eyes as soon as she walked in. She always sounded like she tried to be Betty Boop but failed miserably. She picked a place near his head as he pretended to be asleep.

"Oh Georgie!" She crooned, "I know we promised to just be professional, but how can I be professional when you are lying here looking so alone. I promise I'll take care of you!"

"Ryan! Shut up," Hermione said in the locker room talking in her cell phone, "No seriously…seriously? Well if you tell me that American television is better than British television, I'm actually going to come down there and kill you. Proof? Uhhhh…we started the concept of American Idol, Doctor freakin' Who?! Star Trek was not—"

"Something funny Granger?" Her head resident asked as she jumped. "Or is there a better reason you're not joining pre-rounds?" Hermione groaned slightly and joined the group as they made their pre-rounds so that she could quiz her interns later.

The morning shift was rather uneventful, she did not have any surgeries scheduled that day so she spent the entire time charting and doing her dictations at the nurse's station.

"Mia, darling, could you get the patient in room 2714 his next round of meds? I'm just swamped today with the flu picking up more," the nurse that reminded Hermione a lot of Madame Pompfrey said. She was new, and the fact that she reminded the young resident so much of the older mediwitch made it hard for her to remember her name. So as to not cause doctor-nurse drama, she acquiesced, bored to death with the pile of patient's charts that loomed in front of her. Without even checking the name, she grabbed the chart and headed down the hall quickly when Jenny joined her.

"UGH!" She yelled, "Mark just won't talk to me anymore. I mean, he _took me off of his rotation_, I want to do general surgery, I'm freakin' good at me and he just _TAKES _ me off. I mean, seriously, SERIOUSLY?"

Hermione stopped in front of the room, and faced Jenny.

"Jenny, you need to confront him about this. Talking to me won't help…actually screaming in my direction won't help. He'll just keep getting worse if you don't do something to make it better," she said calmly. Jenny groaned.

"Mia…I don't know what I'd do without you…just don't say I told you so. Just when I thought we were moving forward—"

"Jenny, I'm not listening to this anymore, " Hermione said holding her hands up to her ears as Jenny tried to talk. "La la la la," she sang, opening the patient's door and entering the room. She turned around and stopped dead in her tracks.

"_Hermione!?"_

(A/N) ha ha, I know I'm cruel and mean. Sorry for the later update, papers due right and left. But you know how you can get quicker updates? Review!! :D Let's try and get at least ten :D

If I get 10 reviews, I promise, I will update by next Wednesday at the latest. You help me, I'll help you :D

Love you guys!!


	9. The One with the Reunion

She stopped in her tracks, frozen like a deer in headlights, her breaths became more and more frantic as she tried to calm herself down. She closed her eyes as she felt the chart in her hands clatter to the ground. She wanted to run but her feet planted themselves firmly in place.

"George." She said softly. "Hi," she added when a deadening silence filled the room.

"Hermione," he said again, flustered. She walked up to him, and quickly read completely over his chart. A part of her wanted to run, open the window and jump out into the street, and another part made her want to just throw her arms around him and kiss him into oblivion. She managed to achieve a strange balance of sorts, or standing there, unable to say anything.

"You look amazing," he said wincing a little in pain. Hermione then remembered what she was there for and then promptly proceeded to change his IV bags and administered more painkillers. She was about to turn and leave when he stopped her.

"Wait," he said. "Please don't go." A hint of vulnerability was coming back in his voice. Hermione stopped in her tracks, looked down at his feet, both were unsure of what to say, although both had been rehearsing this very moment for 10 years. None of them expected meeting under the present circumstances. Hermione placed the chart at the foot of his bed, and then walked over to him, putting her hand over his. His eyes seemed to momentarily light up, it was almost as if they had never said goodbye.

"So you're finally a healer?" He asked. She shook her head.

"Doctor." She said simply. "Muggle." He cocked his head, or at least tried to under the circumstances.

"Then what am I doing here?" He asked, "And why hasn't anyone noticed the big gaping hole in the side of my head?"

"You were crossing the street and got hit by a car," Hermione said simply sitting down on a couch beside him. "Your wand got crushed underneath the tires, and splintered so there was no way to really know for sure whether or not you were a wizard or a man with a stick. So they brought you here, and well, you were bleeding out too fast for me to transfer you myself, so we just treated you here." She said. And she then opened up her lab coat and showed George her wand neatly tucked inside a pocket in the back. He grinned. "I've been secretly casting that perception charm," she said.

"I had an _ear-y_ feeling it was something like that," he winked. She groaned and rolled her eyes.

"You gotta be kidding me!" She exclaimed laughing out loud.

"Got you to smile…didn't it?" He asked. She nodded softly.

"Yeah, guess it did." She then noticed her watch. "Shit," she whispered realizing that today she had to go pick up Anna from after-school as it was Emma's day off and her mother and father were taking a few days before thanksgiving to go back to England and visit some people.

"What?" He asked.

"I gotta go finish my charting and dictations so I can--," she stopped herself, "Get home…" she stopped herself. He nodded.

"It was nice se—," he began when the person he secretly wanted to throttle ended up in the room.

"Ooo Georgie, I couldn't find your wand in your desk, I looked everywhere. I know you said not to come back without it, but I figured you would forgive me!" She exclaimed. He looked at Hermione pleadingly. Hermione walked over to the young blonde.

"I'm sorry, it's way past visiting hours," she said. It wasn't. "And also, we have Mr. Weasley scheduled for some physical therapy tomorrow so he really needs his rest." He wasn't. Hermione quickly turned to him and winked. He feigned getting sleepy as Natasha pouted.

"Aww, well I'll be back first thing tomorrow as soon as visiting hours reopen," she tottered up to George and kissed him on the forehead leaving a giant red lipstick stain, and she proceeded to walk out, swaying her hips seductively as she did. Hermione held her hand to her face to stifle a small giggle. George rolled his eyes and groaned under his covers. Hermione shot him a sympathetic look and walked out the door.

Once again, she found herself leaning against the wall out of eyeshot and groaning inwardly. Just when her life seems to get a little less complicated, a giant complication rolls in. She thought she could forget him, she thought she could get over how he made her feel, but she couldn't. She guessed it made sense, after all, she loved their daughter so much, and Anna was just a living reminder every day that George existed and deep down in her heart, she knew these feelings would never go away. She closed her eyes as her pager started buzzing indicating a new trauma arrival. Temporarily changing her mindset, she began to run.

George lay in his bed as Hermione left and felt his stomach playing pinball in his chest. He refused to let himself fall prey to these feelings once more, yet he found himself doing just that over and over again. Her smile was even more gorgeous and radiant than he remembered it. Her eyes suggested tiredness; she looked emotionally drained, as though the past ten years had taken twenty out of her. Physically she had not aged, but mentally he saw a much older than 28 year old woman standing with him. He sighed as he found a remote control; he could not be left with his thoughts for too long. Natasha informed him, through her simpering, that Adam was quite alright with George missing a few days, in fact the CEO gave the young mane up to a week off, his untarnished record helped him achieve that. Adam was currently at a business convention in Hawaii, or else he would have been the first to be at his bedside. _How pathetic, _George thought, _I'm thinking of my fucking boss as my closest friend. _He closed his eyes and thought, no reflected, on how he had exactly come on this moment. He hardly noticed the tear drop trailing down his cheek.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o

The battle was in slow motion. George did not even know where he was, the Hogwarts castle seemed so much bigger than normal. He took a deep breath and looked around, all sound stopped and people moved around him slowly. He watched as people he cared about dropped dead around him, and by some odd stroke of fate, he was left standing. He noticed the small body of Colin Creevey lying by the doorway and something snapped, anger coursed through his veins as he switched from stun to kill. Nothing would stop him now, not even Voldemort himself. Tears flooded his eyes as he passed more and more bodies of his classmates, the battle seemed to be shifting from inside the castle to outside.

They were too young. He saw the bodies of Lupin and Tonks, both of them together at last, both faces in peace. Lupin had finally been released and Tonks seemed perfectly content lying at his side. Suddenly, all he heard, all he saw was blackness as he was hit by a curse…was this death? It could not be, he was still conscious.

"Hey," said a voice behind him, a small light in the darkness.

"Fred," said George happily, "what happened mate?" Fred looked at him with concern in his eyes.

"Wait…no, you can't be here," said Fred, "What happened?"

"I dunno, stray curse I s'pose?" George said scratching the back of his head. Suddenly he noticed both of his ears were perfectly intact.

"Bloody hell mate! I can 'ear things again!" He slapped his knee. "Blimey, that's just knee slapping hilarious." Fred rolled his eyes.

"Always were the joker," he said grinning.

"So where are we?" George asked. Fred shrugged. He took a couple steps backward. When George tried to join him, he noticed his feet wouldn't move. In fact, he seemed to be moving backwards, or upwards. He did not know quite which direction he was moving, but Fred was moving farther and farther away from him.

"No," he whispered, "Fred!" He yelled, holding out his hand. Fred reached out as well, but they were just beyond the other's grasp. Unable to reach for Fred, George let out a gut-wrenching scream as he was pulled into consciousness. He woke up to Ginny's face peering over at him, her eyes were bloodshot, almost as if she was done crying and was bitterly robbed of all emotion.

"What happened?" He murmured.

"You got hit by the reflection of the avada kedavra," said Arthur softly, he felt a potion being poured down his throat and he instantly felt better. He sat up and saw the skeletal disposition of the rest of his family. He already knew. He refused to admit it, but he already knew what they were going to tell him. In that moment, he did not care whether or not Voldemort was defeated. None of them did.

Arthur placed his hands inside George's, and tried to hold back tears. But how could he not cry knowing he was about to divulge the single worst piece of news that would shatter his son forever? His hands shook as he tried to say it, but George stopped him.

"No," he said, standing up. "No." He said walking over to another table. "No," he yelled louder as he broke into a run. Tears flew down his grimy face, stinging as they mingled with the cuts and scrapes. He saw Molly wailing over a body, all he could see was red hair at this point. He the stopped as soon as he saw the face, and he did not react the way he thought he would. He thought, if this day ever came he would sink to the ground and scream a gut wrenching cry of pain that would just shatter anyone who was passing by's souls. He thought that he would be sobbing for the rest of eternity. But he felt nothing. No pain, no sadness, only emptiness.

His insides did not feel as if they would be torn apart, they felt rather numb. As if someone had taken out all the bones in his body and replaced them with rubber. He felt hollow, and yet, impervious. He sat by Fred's head and held it in his hands. Fred looked asleep, not dead—or gone. He looked so peaceful, as if he would wake up at any minute. He closed his eyes and kissed Fred's forehead softly. He moved aside the hair that was stuck to Fred's face, wiping it clean with a handkerchief he found in his pocket.

To anyone else except Ginny, he looked calm, completely relaxed and composed. But she knew how much this tore him up; she knew how unsettling this characteristic of his was. Even Arthur noticed his eyes had lost all hope; any glimmer of life present in them previously was torn out. He himself felt rather empty as he felt Minerva McGonagall's hand on his shoulder. He turned to look at the stern older woman, and she was breaking down in tears. Never in the many years he had been in Hogwarts and had his children got to Hogwarts had he seen the older woman shed a tear. He turned and put his head in her shoulder and began to sob harder than he had ever done before. The celebrations continued on behind them but it seemed another world as the Weasley family gathered around each other and sought the comfort of each other.

For George, the days passed in an unending haze. He did not know how he got from one place to another; all he could do was sit and stare. Somehow food had gotten into his mouth and he ended up showering. Most of the time he sat in his bed in his flat clutching a bottle of firewhiskey. There were moments when the pain seemed bearable, moments when he knew what happened, but mostly if he could keep himself in a stupor to stop himself from feeling anything, everything would be all right. His father came to his bedside once and asked him if he would give the eulogy at Fred's funeral. Of course he would. Who else would have known Fred better? He nodded, in a drunken haze. And just like that, even the companionship of his father had disappeared.

The funeral was beautiful. It was a cloudy day, even the weather refused to smile. Thunderclouds rolled in the distance as they all sat inside a small church. Fred's body lay in a white coffin; Molly had dressed him up in the nicest dress robes they could afford. George joined both his parents at the front of the procession, Bill behind, Charlie following him, followed by, Percy and then Ginny. The speeches read were moving, people told stories of how Fred had touched all of their lives, and then it came time for George to speak. Each step up to the podium sunk his stomach lower and lower.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, members of the Wizarding community," he addressed, his voice rather shaky and uneven, "How can you commemorate someone who was such a huge part of your life that their absence makes even living seem wrong.

"My brother was born April 1, 1988. Since that moment, the moment we both were born, we were together. I do not want to sound pretentious when giving this eulogy, I do not want this to be about me, but you have to understand, we never viewed ourselves as separate. We have been a unit, it has always been Fred and George, or," he laughed, "Gred and Forge.

"But I digress," he continued after a moment of feeling choked. "I never understood how integral he was to my life until only a few days ago, my memories are his memories. I do not even remember a time when we have been apart long term, yet I am cursed to remain alive although he is deceased. How is that fair? How can I move on from someone who I went on my first business endeavor with, how can I laugh? Fred brought so much in my life, he was always the one who did something. I would follow, or I would be the brains behind it, but he was the only one truly courageous enough to take a stand. He initiated everything, he was always the one getting into trouble. I know my mum always tells me that when we were babies, I would do something utterly naughty and then I would manage to roll away, leaving him with the evidence and he would be the one punished.

"But Fred always took it in stride, and he provided in me the courage to face my enemies and to stand up for myself, even if it is through jokes and pranks. He always forced me to face all my problems and worries, and he really brought out the best in all of us. And for that Fred, I am truly and forevermore grateful." He nodded his head and stared up at the sky, "I hope that I can always demonstrate the courage you showed in the battle. You will always be remembered as our hero, the hero of the Weasley family. And I miss you so much," he added shakily, tears openly pouring down his cheeks.

There was not a single dry eye in the room as he looked around. Angelina Johnson sat near the front, clutching the hand of Katie Bell in a vice-like grip. Her face was ghostly in a sense, she was crying silently, trying not to sob openly and loudly. Hermione and Ron sat a few rows behind, His head was on her shoulder for once and she held his head in her hand and was stroking the top of it comfortingly. Ginny clutched onto Harry in an almost child like manner, holding onto anything in her personal darkness. He did not have the courage or the strength to observe everyone, so he walked down the stairs, down the center aisle and into the lobby of the church. He sat on a bench and had his head in his hands as he broke down for the very first time.

0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o0o0o0o0o

"George," Hermione said softly as he tossed and turned in his sleep. "Wake up," she whispered, "It's only a dream." She cooed as he shook, beads of sweat trailing down his back. Dry awful sobs filled the room as he re-lived the funeral and the death of his brother. She took a hold of his head and clutched it to her breast as he cried into her. "You're fine," she whispered. "You'll be fine"

"I can't—," George wailed, "I just can't!"

"I know," whispered Hermione, "Oh George I know. Shhhh, it's just a dream." She whispered. He finally managed to come back to his senses and calm down. Moments later, he leaned against the headboard of the bed while her head rested on his chest. He stroked her hair gently and they both sat in silence.

"How often has this—" Hermione asked.

"Since the funeral," said George. Hermione nodded. "Sorry for waking you." He said. Hermione looked up at him and shook her head. She placed a finger on his lips.

"I am here for you," she said, "Whatever you need, trust me." She smiled. He nodded clutching her closer.

During the day, they both exuded the height of professionalism, working around the store, he in the back room inventing and Hermione helping Verity with more cleaning around the store and organizing various things around. They also decided to renovate the entire storeroom, as George wanted the whole thing to be brand new. He hated stepping inside such sadness and a store that reminded him of Fred. They both worked side by side and diligently, and at night would meet at the house by the lake.

Once the door closed, they both became lovers, unable to keep their hands off of each other, needing to be with each other in every sense of the word. They constantly discovered new things about the other, different ways to make each other happier. Afterwards they would lie in each other's arms, each finally feeling some sort of content, comfort with each other, ready to take whatever life threw at them. George's nightmares had all but gone, they were much milder now, and did not leave him waking up in terror, he felt comforted and whole. Until one night, he woke up, noticing that there was no one on the other side of the bed.

He stood up and looked around the dark room for his boxers and then quickly put on his white t-shirt as he went downstairs in search for the bushy haired witch. He looked out the window and saw her sitting outside, wearing his shirt, hot cup of tea in her hands. He walked outside and sat with her on the steps.

"Can't sleep?" She asked. He nodded and pulled her against his body. She rested her head on his chest.

"You don't sleep do you?" He asked finally putting two and two together and realizing why she was always up whenever he woke up from his nightmares.

"I do," she said softly, "but only when I'm too tired to dream," she answered honestly.

"What? Why?" He asked. She shrugged and stared down at her mug, unable to make eye contact with George. He raised his eyebrow.

"Well, if you don't need my help…maybe I should just leave," he said, a small glimmer in his eye. Hermione looked up at him, confused.

"I mean, whatever you want," she said, hardly expecting getting rid of him to be this easy.

"And I'll just take my shirt with me," said George reaching around her and unbuttoning it. Hermione stopped his hand.

"Seriously?" She said. George nodded. She held his hand.

"Either you get the whole package, or nothing at all," he whispered in her ear huskily, he caressed her shoulder lightly and then continued. Hermione leaned in and kissed him, catching him by surprise.

"Not if you don't catch me first," she whispered in his ear, jumping up and running inside the house.

"Oh no you don't!" George exclaimed running after her and slamming the door. He heard her running and laughing and another door slammed shut, sounding ironically like the door of the cupboard under the stairs. He slammed the door shut with his foot and walked around the house talking loudly.

"I wonder where you could be!" He started, hearing giggling, "I mean, I don't know where to look, I guess I'll just give up and go to bed." He said pretending to walk away, making his steps lighter and lighter as he "left". He then hid behind the archway. She cautiously opened the door to the cupboard and was about to sneak up the stairs when he suddenly appeared, hoisted her over his shoulder, and as she kicked and screamed he walked upstairs and threw her down on the bed. Both of their animal instincts took over and they lost themselves inside each other.

0o0o0o0o00o0o00o0o0o0o0o

Hermione was confused, she expected her first experience with George would have been much harsher, he would yell, she would yell, there would be definite tears involved. But he seemed past emotion, past anything. He had a hot young thing as his girlfriend, and yet seemed to be annoyed with her. He had changed over the past ten years, and she could not put her finger on why.

As she sutured in the pit, she felt herself regretting her absence more and more, although it seemed like there were actually no repercussions of her exit in the wizarding community. Everyone moved on, Ron had gotten married and had kids, George had a girlfriend, she was sure Harry and Ginny had gotten married without kids, all without her. She realized how disposable she had become; maybe leaving was the best thing for everyone. After all, at least she had Anna.

She finished suturing up the patient and then sighed, she walked back up to the nurses' station, passing George's room on the way. She looked in, leaning on the doorway. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be dreaming of something truly beautiful. Even despite his injuries, she noticed how handsome he had become.

"Coming in, or staying out?" George asked after a while, getting fed up with her just standing there. He was puzzled with himself, he had rehearsed every single day what he would tell her the moment he laid eyes on her again. He would tell her that she was the most awful witch ever, how she broke his heart, and he would give her an earful. Yet, the moment he laid eyes on her, all he wanted to do was take her in his arms and hold her until the end of time. Hermione entered the room and sat by his bed silently.

"You didn't say goodbye," said George sadly. Hermione looked down at her shoes.

"I know," she said.

"I mean, I know we didn't end on the best of terms, but you could have at least said goodbye," he said. She nodded.

"I'm sorry." She said. He wanted to shrug but was in too much pain to. "Could we start over?" She asked. He cocked his head.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"You, me. We live in the same city," she said, "we might as well start over. New city new us, new friendship," she offered. He smiled.

"I would really like that," he said.

"And listen," Hermione began, "There's something I need to tell you." She started hesitatingly. Her pager then began to buzz and she checked it.

"Shit," she whispered. She put her hand on his, "I'm so sorry, I promise I'll be back." She said. He nodded, curious to know what she had to tell him. She was married? She had children? He shook his head, unable to think of what to expect. Soon his nurse came in to change his IVs and he felt the drugs working as he slipped into a dreamless slumber

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Malfoy manor," Hermione began softly as she and George lay there. He was stroking her back and she nestled her head in his chest. He slid down so that they were face to face.

"What about it?" He asked.

"Bellatrix Lestrange took Harry and Ron and took them down to the dungeons. I, being the muggle born, remained for questioning," she stopped, unable to continue. He gripped her shoulder.

"Hermione, you don't have to tell me if it's too hard," he said. She shook her head.

"No, I want to." She said. George nodded and kissed her shoulder.

"Well, I was tortured, and not just with the Cruciatus, but with a knife as well," she said, feeling tears beginning to form in her eyes. "She held it to my neck and asked me questions, and I refused to answer, so the punishments got worse. I don't remember much through the pain or what happened, I just wanted to die, and I wanted it to end. It was as if a thousand knives were being sliced into me." She began to cry and he put her head on his shoulder and they lay there for a while. Anger coursed through his veins.

"I know it's over," said Hermione, "But whenever I go to sleep, I just feel that knife on my throat and a thousand others piercing into me at once, several times."

"Shhh," whispered George, stroking her hair. "It's over now," he said. "I'm so sorry." He added.

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"I didn't know," he admitted.

"Why?" She laughed a little, "It's not like it's something you ask someone. Hey…were you tortured in the war?"

"No," said George seriously, "but you're muggle born, I should have assumed, and then asked, and for that, I'm sorry."

"Of all people, I think you're okay with not apologizing," she said. "You didn't know, and you've had problems of your own. Merlin knows." He nodded and kissed her forehead, entwining his hand in her hair.

"Thank you for telling me," He said. She looked down and nodded.

"No problem," she said, yawning and nestling even closer to him. He wrapped his arms around her tighter and closed his eyes as well. Hermione, for the first time in many months, slipped into a dreamless sleep.

(A/N) Here you go! I promised Wednesday, and you guys got Wednesday! :D

Anyways, now that I've kept my word, please review, I will update by this weekend.

Hope you enjoyed it, this chapter definitely made me cry, especially the part with Fred and George.

Please please please review, if I can get over 10 I will definitely update by this weekend, Saturday at the latest…although if I don't, I have huge term paper due Monday, but the reviews will make this a priority! :D Love you all bunches!


	10. The One with Thanksgiving 1

(A/N) I have to start with a disclaimer. I know this chapter seems highly political, and if you are American and a right wing, I implore you to keep reading. I, myself, am a political science major and thus find it hard to keep this kind of stuff out of my writing. Plus, with a girl as bright as Hermione especially being a doctor at this time, no matter her magic, I feel like she would contemplate on the current socio-political situation.

Keep in mind, if you are conservative, she is a doctor, and that does fuel most of her instincts, so she's probably fiscally pretty right wing.

And also left-wingers, she is probably socially liberal. And that's how I'm going to be writing it. Why? Because it is my story haha, I know I sound mean when I say that, but it is something that is important and near and dear to me, so it does get pretty political. I am sorry about that in advance, but just bear with me, if now, read on and enjoy. Remember these are my views and are in no ways associated with the views of JK Rowling or Warner Bros Pictures (Or Disney even…doesn't Disney have replay rights to Harry Potter cause ABC family plays them…ugh god Disney owns the world…)

Soooooo, also, I'm thinking like her, and she is a pretty conservative character (minus the whole premarital sex thing…but that's just a plot device and I know plenty of conservatives who have…well never mind, I live in DC does that count? Lolz)

Anyways, now that I've written a tome of an A/N, how about the STORY?!

Danke schoen. :D

* * *

"Mooooom," Anna groaned as they both sat on the steps, "Its too early!" She exclaimed. Hermione knew she was right, as she also yawned at four in the morning, clutching a travel mug of coffee. Although she was used to waking up this early for work, she did not enjoy the early rising for the parade. But this was the first time she had been able to score the tickets for Herald Square, and she wanted to be sure to make it in plenty of time so that they got good seats. As soon as she was about to pull out her cell phone to call Ryan she saw him and Melanie heading up the street. As soon as Melanie saw Anna, her face lit up, as did Anna's, both of their expressions went from exhausted to excited. Ryan walked up to Hermione and kissed her softly, keeping in mind their kids were there.

"Hello," he said.

"Well, hello there," she replied.

"Shall we?" He asked with a grin. Hermione nodded and the four of them walked down the street, anticipating the large crowds of people they would very soon be hitting. It was at this time that Hermione missed the simple joys of apparition. She no longer would have to go through the crowd, she could have just appeared when she needed to and also have slept longer. She smiled at the thought as she reached out to grab Anna's hand.

The crowd was considerably less this year. Because of the economy, not as many people could make it out to New York. Also, people were saving to go down to the Inauguration in January. From what Hermione could hear, there were over two million people making the trip out to Washington DC to herald in the new era of promised change. There was a different feel to this thanksgiving; however, although the prospects of rising out of the slumps seemed rather far away, there was a renewed spirit amongst everyone, a new hope of light in these dark times. She sighed as she remembered this feeling that she had before, ten years ago in fact. She stopped for a second as the light turned against them and gripped Ryan's hand reassuringly. He seemed surprised at the gesture and squeezed back, holding on to her hand tightly.

They finally made the long strenuous journey to a subway stop where they ducked down, looking forward to making their journey to Herald Square much simpler. Anna and Melanie chattered away about various things as they marched onwards, but Hermione and Ryan didn't listen, for he was too engrossed with her, and she with thoughts of George.

"So how cool is it that my dad is like totally dating your mom," Melanie said when they were sure their parents weren't listening. Anna shrugged.

"Mom doesn't date much, so I guess its good. Plus, she's been smiling a lot more. I don't even wanna ask cause that's gross," she said.

"Yeah but we could be sisters!" Melanie said excitedly.

"Do you wanna fight all the time?" Anna asked. Melanie punched her lightly on the shoulders.

"But we can plot so much more, and we can finally get Jimmy back for putting those fake spiders in our lunch bags." Anna nodded.

"I was thinking, something involving snails," Anna began.

"We're not deaf," Hermione said looking behind her.

"We can still hear you," Ryan commented.

Melanie and Anna both grumbled and put their hands in their pockets as Hermione and Ryan took each girl's respective hands and clambered aboard the subway. Hermione smiled as she saw Ryan, caring and gentle with his daughter. She wondered if this is how George would have been with her. How she would have been the only reasonable voice in the house while George allowed Anna to play practical jokes. She smiled to herself, seeing the full picture in her head. She probably wouldn't have had to have had the help from her parents, they could have stayed in England, Emma would not have been necessary, and her grandmother wouldn't have been too. In fact, they probably would have lived somewhere in England.

She sighed and felt Ryan's hand on her knee, and she placed hers on top of his. Anna and Melanie both rolled their eyes and giggled.

* * *

_Dear Hermione, _

_I know things did not end with us on the best of terms. I know I got mad, you got mad, and I left. I've been thinking non-stop of how idiotic I was being. I'm jealous of George to be honest, ever since the battle he's taken you away from me, and I've been angry. And for that, I'm sorry. I did not stop to think of the utter horror he's been through._

_After all, Fred was my brother as well. I also experienced loss, but not at the degree he did. I miss Fred, I miss that stupid git every day, and I realize that the pain I'm feeling is not equivalent to even a fourth of the pain George must feel on a day-to-day basis. He needs a friend that sees him for himself, and I regret none of us have been able to be that without seeing Fred's face. Its haunting, and a terrible admission, and of this I am aware. But you don't see Fred, or if you do, you make a good job of treating George as George. How he deserves to be treated. _

_He needs you there for him, and I do not, at least not in the extent that he does, and I apologize for treating you in the way that I did for showing such a kindness to my family. You've been a part of us for so many years, and I keep forgetting that. I keep on feeling like, well, you're mine. Laugh if you will, or even get angry, for I know you are not a possession to call my own. But Hermione, I always had been rather possessive of you; I never would want to lose you. _

_And I realize that by the mere act of not trusting you, I come closer and closer to letting you go. I need to be more trusting in the future, and more considerate to the needs of other people around you. George needs you now_

_You make me better and bring out the better in everyone around you. And you deserve someone who does that for you. I hope that I can be that person for you. I want to be that person for you, for I love you. I regret that the first time I say this and truly mean it must be in the form of a letter, and not a very eloquent one at that, but I do. I could not bear to lose you under any circumstance. What you've done for my family over the past few months has been absolutely touching and phenomenal, and I realize now, that I can never ever bear to lose you. You are my other half, dear Hermione. You are the person I want to wake up next to always. But you know all of this, in your heart, you know that we're just right for each other, we're best friends. What could be more perfect?_

_Love, Ronald_

_PS. Tell George hi for me!_

Hermione folded the letter closed and clutched it to her breast. A tear fell down her eye as she realized how much it must have taken Ron to write that letter, to get the courage and strength to finally open up. She regretted everything she had done to him. She leaned back against her windowsill and looked out at the still lake.

George was busy at the store, and it was not something she was needed for that day. In fact, today he would close it down for the final time until the grand opening after Christmas. He and Hermione decided that they should take a well deserved break, she would help him opening day and then she would go on to begin training for the Healer program at St. Mungo's. Nothing was decided for what would happen when Ron would come back. He was to arrive the night before the grand opening, exactly four weeks from when he sent the letter. Hermione did not know what to do. She did love Ron dearly, and she did not know if it was the same feeling she had towards George.

She and George had been consummating a purely physical need for each other. They, for the past few weeks, had been completing each other. But she did not know if that was a result of the pure passion they had felt, and just the newness of it, or if it was feelings of an unknown nature. To be honest, she was scared, the thought of George and a future scared her, but in a way that she was excited to see what the future brought. But she knew that with Ron she could have had a stable future where nothing would be unknown.

She hugged her knees to her chest and watched the wind moving through the trees. She heard the door open downstairs and she decided to shake all of her fears, and think about it some other time. For now, she craved the physical relationship she had been reveling in for the past few weeks. She rushed downstairs and saw him enter and she felt her heart jump to her throat. All other thoughts immediately left as she wrapped her arms around his waist. He immediately obliged, picking her up and swinging her around. They both retreated to the sitting room after he had hung up his jacket.

"Hermione," said George hesitatingly, something clearly was in his mind and bothering him.

"Yeah?" She asked, her eyes closed, in pure bliss.

"Nothing." He said softly.

"No, what?" She asked sitting up on her knees on the couch, facing him. He faced forward towards the fireplace.

"It's nothing," he said laughing. "Your hair smells good," he added. Hermione knew that was not what he was thinking, but decided to let it slide. She pushed back his hair and touched the scarred remains of his ear. She traced the outline of where his ear was. She leaned up and placed a small kiss on the side of his head, below the damaged area. She felt him tense up slightly and his pulse raced. He had his eyes closed, and she leaned forward to kiss each of his eyelids tenderly. She leaned over him and straddled his hips, kissing his nose, his forehead and both of his cheeks. A faint smile began to form as she captured his lips in hers, tracing the top and the bottom with her tongue, gently caressing each. Her tongue was granted entrance and she willingly obliged as they began kissing even more deeply and passionately.

He gripped her hips and pulled them closer to his, slowly becoming more and more of an active participant. Before they both knew it, they were lying on the floor of the sitting room, lying on the carpet, listening to the crackling of the fire.

"Well that was new," said George smiling down at her. She looked up in his eyes.

"You don't know what I'm capable of, do you?" She asked with a wink. He kissed her hair.

"So what do you want to do tonight?" Hermione asked after they had been lying there for a few more minutes. George groaned.

"Knit," he said sarcastically. Hermione slapped his shoulder playfully.

"No seriously," she said, "We always do the same thing. Let's change it up." She sat up and began to redress. George looked at her disappointedly. She looked at him. "What?" She asked.

"I'm a bloke, watching a woman dress is like the opposite of good!" George exclaimed. Hermione threw him some trousers.

"It's freezing!" She exclaimed, fixing her jumper and making sure it was not inside out before she put it on. George rolled his eyes and began to dress as well. He walked up to Hermione and placed both of his hands on either side of her head.

"You do realize, we're not going to remain clothed for long," he said capturing her lips in a kiss. She pushed him away.

"Now that you've said that, I'm not putting out tonight." She grinned and plopped herself down on the couch. George sat beside her and put his arm around her.

"Meh, I'll live," he said grinning. "I can always take care of myself." He winked. Hermione shoved a pillow in his direction.

"Disgusting George, way too much information!" She exclaimed. He laughed, he loved making her uncomfortable, she had the cutest giggle when she was nervous. They both spent the next few moment staring at the floor.

"Let's watch a movie!" Hermione said. "I haven't seen one in a while." George raised his eyebrow.

"A movie?" He asked.

"Moving pictures," said Hermione trying to clarify, "Except they talk and tell a story, and its good fun." She said with a grin. He looked as if someone was bashing his head open with a comically sized gavel. "Oh you'll see," Hermione said, standing up and heading to where a black rectangular box sat. She opened up the cabinet underneath and pulled out some really thin books that popped open and had a round circular metal thing in them.

"I think you'll like Casablanca," she said picking one out. He walked over, took it out of her hand and regarded it confusedly. Hermione laughed at his inability to tell what that was.

"It's called a DVD," she said. "Digital Video Disc."

"Okay, digital what?"

"It means, I can pop it in this thing, she said pressing a button. He watched a little slider slide out and stop. She placed the disc in his hand into the slider and pushed it closed. It went back in, without the help of wands, _electricity_ he thought, and a little screen popped up that said "Loading." She then went back to the couch, picked up one of the rectangular blocks with buttons on it on one of the end tables and pressed the center button. George followed her and studied the rectangular block carefully. He looked up and suddenly words appeared on the screen in front of him, as if it was one of the moving billboards he saw in Picadilly circus.

"So this is a television," he said, slowly sounding out the syllables. Hermione laughed and placed a comforting hand on his arm.

"Yes, that's a television," she said pointing, "That plays the DVDs," she said pointing at the little box under the television, "And this is a remote." She smiled.

"Fascinating," said George sarcastically looking straight at Hermione. She threw the remote in his direction and he caught it and calmly pressed play and went through the menus and started the movie. He calmly put the remote down on the end table and put his arm around Hermione. She stared at him in shock.

"What?" He asked, clearly amused at her anger at his clear knowledge of the workings of a remote, and a TV.

"You knew?" She asked.

"Shhh," he said holding his finger to his lips and pulling Hermione closer to him, "The movie is starting!" Hermione lightly punched his chest and snuggled into his embrace.

* * *

"The parade was really good this year," Hermione commented as Santa made his way in front of them, signaling the end of the show. She was clutching Anna's hand tightly in one hand and Ryan's hand loosely clasped her other. Melanie sat beside her father and the four of them were all smiles and giggles throughout the show.

"So how'd you get tickets?" He asked, "These are nearly impossible to get!"

"Well, one of my friends at work, her dad works at Macy's, and he got her these tickets, but she wanted to go visit her boyfriend and his family for the holidays in Washington D.C., so I mean, she didn't want the tickets to go to waste, and I thought, might as well," she said laughing. Ryan smiled. She leaned against his shoulder.

"Ew," said Anna out loud.

"Yeah totally gross," Melanie echoed. Hermione playfully slapped Anna. They began to walk with the crowd, heading back towards the subways hoping they could get back uptown with minimal trouble.

Hermione sat on the front steps of the cottage and stared as the sun peeked its way out through the mountains. She held a warm cup of tea in her hands and had a blanket wrapped around her. George was still asleep, finally he had stopped tossing and turning and crying out. For the first time in months, he admitted to Hermione he had been sleeping soundly. She began to cry as she realized she had backed herself into an emotional corner. She did still love Ron, although the passion was not there, she had never tried anything with him. It might develop. She did not know why on earth she was sobbing but she was, falling apart because she was falling for two different people. She was utterly and hopelessly confused, and she watched as the few remaining birds sang a sad tale of loss, and the remaining leaves left clinging on the trees began to sink and fall.

Crookshanks, who was most at peace in the house by the lake, jumped onto her lap and meowed as she pet the ugly cat. He began to dutifully pur and he snuggled against her stomach, knowing that she was in need of comfort.

"What do I do?" She asked Crookshanks, "What do I do?"

* * *

"Mia!" Jenny exclaimed, "I thought you had the day off, isn't it Thanksgiving?" Hermione shrugged as she tied her hair back.

"Was on-call, Thomas, from the car pileup, he's apparently needing bowel resection, and as the general surgeon in-training, I was called." She said a little indignant that her date and one time that she could spend with her daughter had to be cut off. Anna understood, she always did, but Hermione knew that she could not continue breaking her heart in this way.

This is why she picked general surgery as her specialty, after her residency and training, she would hopefully get an attending spot and would not have to work nearly as much as the cardio or the neuro surgeons.

"Helloooo, earth to Mia!" Jenny said waving her hand forward. Hermione snapped out of her reverie.

"Sorry Jen, what were you saying?" She asked.

"Oh no, I was just saying, I talked to Mark like you said I should, and he thought I was being ridiculous, and then I don't know, I might just break it off with him, its getting too much," said Jenny rolling her eyes. Hermione put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Jenny looked sadly down at the ground. "Problem is, I actually was beginning to like him." She shook it off. "Oh well, off to surgery!" She said marching down to the operating room.

Hermione shook her head and smiled to herself as she walked down to the patient rooms to prep her guy. She passed George's room on the way and he was calmly flipping channels looking bored. He did not see her as she passed, and she was thankful. She did not quite wish to talk to him at the moment; her life was complicated enough as it was. Just as she was about to enter her room, her phone rang.

"Hey mom, you got my message?" She asked walking down the hall.

George peeked after her, he had seen her, but he was not sure if it would be appropriate to call after her. He sighed and continued flipping through endless brainless channels of gardening and home shopping. Once in a while he would catch the last twenty minutes of a good movie, but that's all that the damn thing seemed to offer him. He sighed and stared at his watch. They wanted to keep him for observation for a few more days and then he would convalesce at home, on strict bed rest for several days afterwards. He groaned at the thought of the amounts of work he had to do. Adam called him several times to tell him not to worry about it, and he knew he had capable people working under him to temporarily absorb his workload, but he did not know what else to do with his life at that point.

He stared intently at the changing channels, as he did not even stop to see if there was a program that he enjoyed. He just pressed buttons out of sheer boredom, praying to all high heavens that Natasha did not show up. Soon he saw Hermione angrily chatting with a nurse as she passed his room in the other direction. She then took on a Charlie Brown like walk a few seconds' later, head down and dragging her feet, back in the direction she had just come from. He smiled a little to himself, his skin growing taut at the unfamiliar emotion.

"You alright there?" He asked about the fourth time she paced by the room. She turned around; shocked he was observing that fiasco. She groaned and leaned against the doorframe.

"Patient drama, my OR got stolen so my surgery's been delayed for another hour, so I'm stuck here when I could be—" she stopped herself before she finished, "--making thanksgiving dinner," she said, saving herself. George laughed a little. Hermione stared down at her shoes.

"So how are you?" She asked. He shrugged.

"Not too bad, pain levels are about a five today," he said, "That's how you say it right?" Hermione nodded. "With the 'm' word, I would have been up and about by now," George said. Hermione nodded.

"I guess," she said.

"You know, there is a chair in here, you don't have to stand awkwardly at the doorframe," he exclaimed. Hermione shrugged.

"I guess," she said walking into the room and sitting down on the armchair beside his bed. Cars honked in the distance for several minutes before they came up with anything to say.

"So—" they both said in unison.

"You first," said George. Hermione shook her head.

"You can go," she said.

"No, you first," said George. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Ugh fine," she said smiling, "So what brings you to New York?" She asked.

"Work, I'm a pretty big executive of April Fools, kind of a wizard toy corporation," he said.

"No," Hermione said, disbelieving him.

"Yep," he said smiling. "I'm becoming the C.E.O, announced in two weeks at the Christmas party." Hermione placed a hand over her mouth, this was not right. This just did not sound like the familiar George she had shared such a beautiful summer with ten years ago. She stared at the pattern on her tennis shoes intently; staring at the small watch she had in her hand watching the seconds tick by ever so slowly.

"So what about you, besides big shot surgeon?" George asked grinning. Hermione shrugged.

"Nothing much," she lied, _I've just been raising our child while maintaining a difficult career,_ she added in her head.

"How can I blame ya, this is hard stuff," George said with a smile. The smile seemed unfamiliar to him, Hermione noticed. Like it took him some degree of effort to make such a simple gesture. She sat and nervously cracked her knuckles, fighting for something to do while remaining in such an awkward situation. She longed to yell out, she longed to point out how much he had diverged from his plan, how different he was. But the truth was, she had changed as well and there was nothing she could do about it. She nervously laughed.

"It is," she said, the only thing she could think of saying to him.

He looked at her, she seemed so tired and exhausted, the years had taken a toll on her, obviously, and the stress of becoming a surgeon must have been difficult. But that couldn't have been everything that was exhausting, there must be something else.

"So you seeing anyone?" George asked. "You don't have to tell me if it makes you feel uncomfortable." He added.

"Nah its fine, fair question," said Hermione, "Yeah, this guy, Ryan—I met him through, mutual friends," Hermione said cringing to herself, wishing she could just come out and say it. George smiled sadly. He nodded, completely aware that Hermione would actually have relationships.

"Lucky guy," he said hoarsely. Hermione chuckled a little to herself.

"You and Natasha, I presume?" Hermione asked. George shrugged.

"Eh, just casual," he said. Hermione furrowed her eyebrows. Casual? Didn't sound right. She checked her watch hoping it was time to go to surgery because they were running out of things to talk about, and she did not want to tell him about his child while he was in a hospital bed of all places.

"You know what? I actually should go, check, maybe there's an operating room open, after all, how many people are getting surgeries on Thanksgiving?" Hermione asked. George shrugged. She then hightailed it out of the room, George swore if the door was closed, there would be a Hermione shaped hole in the door. He chuckled a little and then cringed. Muggle medicine was painful.

Hermione was leaning against a wall in the locker room, shaking uncontrollably. She did not know how deep the hole she dug herself was but already she could not see the sunlight, and it unnerved her immensely. She began to hyperventilate and she slowly leaned down into the ground and began to cry.

"Mia?" Jenny asked walking in and sitting down next to her. Hermione felt exactly like she did ten years ago, torn between two worlds and utterly alone. When Jenny sat next to her, she barely even noticed, caught up within her raging emotions. Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Surgery got postponed until tomorrow, said he could wait, apparently today is a surprisingly busy day." Hermione said. Jenny furrowed her eyebrows.

"Okay Mia, I know you, like really really well, and there is no freaking way that you would be this upset over a surgery, so spill."

"No, I have to get home, I have to get home my mum and Anna are waiting."

"Hermione, you are in absolutely no condition to make it home, now sit down and talk to me, compose yourself and then get home, It's only 4, dinner can wait for a bit," Jenny said calmly. Hermione stared down at her legs. Jenny rubbed her knee comfortingly. "You wanna talk about it?" She asked. Hermione shook her head, and then nodded. She felt like a child, I mean, she had been one and even though she thought herself a perfectly capable mother, she never had a chance to grow up normally.

"You know that guy, that car crash victim?" Hermione said. Jenny nodded. "That's Anna's dad." Jenny's eyes widened.

"Seriously?" She asked. Hermione nodded. "Yeah, well, his little brother, me and one of our friends went to school together back in England when I was young. And the three of us were inseparable…we went through everything together. Well this guy and his twin brother…" Hermione began, and she continued to carefully monitor the story to leave the whole concept of magic out of it, but for the first time in ten years she opened up emotionally to someone.

(A/N) Oooo getting dramatic! I'm so so so so sorry this is late! I've been SO busy, college etc. Haha, but hope y'all liked this chapter, I certainly did. I wanted to make one thanksgiving chapter, but as you can see, this chapter is pretty long so I had to split it up, Thanksgiving pt2 might be a lot shorter so I can probably get it up this week, pray! And then I have exams and have to move out of my dorm so there might be a delay in posting that, but I'll have summer vacation and at that point, you can depend on regular updates.

Anyways, what do you think will happen? Will Hermione ever tell George about Anna? Will Anna find out first? What will happen to Ryan?

Review! Let me know what you think! Still waiting on ten! :D


	11. The One Where Thanks is Given 2

"So basically now you're screwed?" Jenny asked. Hermione nodded.

"Wow, and I thought Mark and I had it bad," she laughed to herself, and leaned against the wall. She put her hand on Hermione's and smiled. "Well, what are you thinking you'll do?"

Hermione sat against the wall, grasping Jenny's hand. She didn't know yet, and did not want to know yet. She sighed and shrugged.

"Move to the middle of Kansas and start over?" She asked smiling sadly. Jenny put her head on Hermione's shoulder.

"You can't do that," she said. "You'd just be running away from your problems, sooner or later, you will run into him again, and you know what, Anna is his kid, and he needs to know that." Hermione leaned her head against Jenny's and sighed.

"I know…I wish it were that easy, to go up to him and tell him. I don't even know if he's well enough yet for that. Oh well, I guess I should go and try and take the fall at least. The sooner that happens the sooner it'll be over…right?"

Jenny nodded. They still remained in the same place. Jenny sat back up and so did Hermione, and they both shared a knowing glance with each other. As they did, Hermione's phone began to buzz and she groaned and picked it up.

"Hey mom!" She said excitedly. Jenny stared at her, glaringly. "No," said Hermione, "Actually, I just got finished," she grinned. She mouthed out the words 'sorry' to Jenny as she whispered furiously.

"No," she whispered, "You can't get out of telling him, you get your butt back here," she kept saying underneath Hermione's mother's comments.

"Oh? The turkey is getting messed up? You need me to run to the market ASAP? Well I can't ignore you can I? Right…right," said Hermione walking to her locker and pulling out her clothes to change into. Jenny groaned and sat on a bench shooting Hermione several deathly glares. Hermione knew what she was doing was utterly wrong, she just did not like George's new persona. She did not feel comfortable sharing extremely fragile news with him, and she was scared. She had just entered a new and exciting relationship with a very attractive, albeit boring, man, but she just did not want anything messing that up. She knew that getting closer to George would just be a recipe in failure. Plus she had been out of that world for so long, she did not think it would be so easy for her to re-enter. She looked at Jenny who seemed to go directly from angry to bitterly disappoint in her and she shrugged, gesturing that her hands were tied as her mother rattled off a grocery list.

"Actually mom, I don't have a pen," Hermione said. "Could you just text me everything you need?" She asked.

"Honestly Hermione, I don't know where you keep your head these days. But you're done with surgeries and stuff right?"

"Yeah, it got postponed to tomorrow, it's a non-emergent case," she said, grabbing her coat and buttoning it up, checking to make sure her shirt was on the right way and her jeans were all zipped up. As she looked up in the locker room, she noticed that Jenny had left. She groaned and ended the conversation with her mother, not caring if it was an upbeat note or on a downbeat note, at the moment she had one and only one priority, to make sure that Jenny kept her mouth closed about the whole situation, especially to Mark. Hermione sighed and walked out of the locker room and spotted Jenny rearranging charts at the Nurse's station.

"Jenny," she said softly. Jenny looked down at the counter and gripped the edges of it tightly.

"Save it," she said as coolly as she could muster, once more rearranging the pile of charts.

"Jenny," Hermione repeated. Jenny closed her eyes and shook her head.

"No, Mia, you do not get to take the high horse on this," she turned to Hermione and pointed a finger in her direction, "What you did, you did to yourself, and you caused a lot of people to needlessly suffer. Yeah people would have been mad if you had told the truth, but it would not have lasted very long at all," she said. "You dug this hole for yourself, just keep me out of it. You have my silence, but that's only because you were my best friend." Hermione shot her a look of gratitude, but was only met with an ice-cold demeanor.

"Jenny—" She said reaching out.

"Can it Dr. Granger. The reason my marriage failed last year was because my ex-husband lied to me for two years about an affair he had, I would have been mad if he had told me about it first, I mean in his defense, we both got married young. But he lied to me, and he kept me from truly feeling happy. I can't forgive liars, so either you tell him soon, like in the next few days, or you and me…we're over." She said bitterly. She then hmphed and then turned on her heel and walked away. Hermione leaned against the counter and sighed.

She knew what she was doing was unfair, she knew everything that had happened was not at all fair to her or George, and somehow Ron had gotten tangled up in this whole situation. She never meant to hurt anyone, or even change lives for that matter, all she ever wanted to do was to love and somehow be loved in return. She was a child in the matters of love, buried in books; there was only so much she could have learned.

True she read of great romances, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, Marianne and Colonel Brandon, Romeo and Juliet, but never had she thought of herself as a protagonist, or someone particularly adept at love. In fact, in these sorts of matters alone she was inept. All of her early adolescent years were spent fighting evil and mothering two boys. She was ready to be a mother, yes, because of how she was treated by Harry and Ron, but a lover? That was always the farthest thing from her mind.

She walked down the steps near the hospital down the familiar turnstiles and waited for the subway that would take her uptown towards her mother's place. She hugged her coat closer to her body and felt empty, numb, and unable to feel, think or act. True she did love George, or she thought he did. She also thought she loved Ron, and at this point, she knew if George somehow rejected Anna, she would be crushed forever.

The subway doors clanged open as the train screeched to a stop. Since it was the holidays, the subways were jam packed with people heading in, people going out, it was almost stifling, but there was no other more convenient form of transportation. Hermione reached into her bag and pulled out her iPod earphones and put them in, pressing play on the little device, turning on her upbeat playlists for times she felt like this.

But sadly, the music did nothing to calm her down, to bring her up from this terrible low. The feeling in her stomach of nervousness was not going to subside and she felt a genuine terror well up in her heart, the ultimate rejection. She feared to tell Ryan the truth of her past indiscretions and she did not want to tell George yet. She did not even know how it would be possible to ease either party into this odd situation. She clutched onto a pole as the train began to rattle and roll towards her stop and closed her eyes as she tried to think of a solution to the extremely deep grave she had dug out for herself.

George lay quietly in the bed, willing it to be Friday so he could finally be discharged. He wanted to walk around again, to get back into the office. The past few days had been nerve wracking. Although he knew that he had racked up plenty of vacation time, he also knew that as the next ruler of his empire, the company could not bear a one-week vacation from one of the top executives.

"Weasley!" A voice exclaimed walking in. George felt much calmer as he saw his boss walk into the room, finally he did not have to live inside his own head.

"Hey Adam," he said as the powerful CEO walked into the room.

"You look awful, you miserable son of a bitch," he said sitting down in a chair by the bed. George rolled his eyes.

"Not as terrible as you do," he said with a hearty fake laugh. Adam guffawed.

"Funny guy," he said. "Anyways, just wanted to check up on you, and let you know not to bother coming back until December 14, your clients have all agreed to wait and we all know how dedicated to the job you are."

"But—" George protested.

"Nonsense," Adam said putting his hand up, "Don't kill yourself, you need rest and relaxation, and I know working for a toy company may seem restful and relaxing, but really, you need to sleep. You haven't been sick a single day in the past 10 years, you might as well take a few weeks off," he said with a grin. George nodded softly.

"And you'll be—"

"I'll be fine!" Adam exclaimed. "Now rest up, go to sleep, watch bad TV, I don't care, just no work for the next two and a half weeks." He leaned back in the chair and placed his hands behind his head. To everyone else, he was a ruthless corporate boss, but for some reason, he had taken a liking to George.

Adam was born in a small rural suburb in Kansas, a town filled with small-minded people he never quite fit in with. His classmates all looked forward to when they could quit school to help their parents with their farms, whereas he grew up with an extremely tough work ethic, and a creative mind.

The day he received his letter from the Salem Institute, he was relieved, not only could he move to Massachusetts to be amongst like-minded individuals, he had a better future than the one sadly deferred to him by his situation, being from a farming family. He excelled in school and then after he left, he began to take business classes in the muggle world, and the wizarding world, taking over corporations finally until he had received word that April Fools was hiring and looking for a new manager to head up their consulting department.

He became a shark in the true definition of the word, not even considering marrying until the right woman showed up, a young British witch from Hogwarts, Lavender Brown. Although he was around 10 years older than her, the age difference did not bother her at all, in fact, it only turned her on more. You see, she was interested in two things, nice things, and rich men. Adam Richards fulfilled both of those for her, and she never looked back on her life in England and stepped forward into the tiresome work of trophy wife.

In fact, it was her that suggested that Adam take a look at Weasley Wizarding Wheezes so that he could branch forward into England. After all, if he wanted to strike, since the economy of the Wizarding world was hit pretty harshly after the war, it was soon, and he struck, intending to swallow them whole. Instead, he took a liking to the young Weasley boy. George seemed eager to throw himself completely into the company since day one.

Fully intending to fire him after the merger, Adam changed his mind once he saw George's near-delirious work ethic. and decided to mold George into his protégé, and that he became. He helped sponsor classes in management and business for George to take, and pretty soon, he considered the younger man closer to a son than an employee. He was convinced that an early retirement would be perfect for him, and then he could finally settle down and spend time with his distant family, and there was absolutely no way he could ever replace himself with anyone whom he felt more comfortable and secure with.

Lavender Richards nee Brown, on the other hand, was purely in her marriage for the designer labels and the handsome older man. She had no career, and no intention of finding one for that matter, so when news of her husband's early retirement reached her doorstep, she panicked. When she panicked, she shopped, and so on Thanksgiving day, she found herself scouring New York for stores that were open, and clothes that would help her fill her emptiness. She was trying to hail a cab in the evening after her shopping spree had only bought half of Manhattan when she bumped into a familiar face, racing to try and get home on time.

"Hermione?" She asked, barely recognizing the woman dressed in muggle clothes. Hermione squinted a little and cocked her head, barely recognizing this woman, yet knowing she was a part of her past.

"Yes?" She said, opening her mouth, and then closing it, and then opening her mouth and then resolving to close it again.

"It's me! Lavender Richards, well actually you know me as Lavender Brown." Lavender exclaimed, "We were in Hogwart's together. I don't blame you for not recognizing me, I've had some work done recently, slight blemishes you know." Hermione's eyes widened.

"Oh of course! Lavender," she exclaimed, about twenty times more enthusiastic than she felt. Lavender looked good, she had dyed her hair from brown to blonde, was skinny as ever and wore only the latest labels.

"Well look—" Hermione began, "I would absolutely _love_ to stay and chat—but I really, have to go, have to do some leftover shopping for Thanksgiving and then I have dinner to cook, but really, we should have lunch." She said beginning to hurry away. Lavender was left on the streets feeling peculiar.

"Yes!" She said, "Send me an owl!" She exclaimed, biting her lips as she was sure her last words went away unheard. But Hermione was acting rather odd, and instead of popping by into the local floo point, she seemed to be heading down the stairs into the dingy subway. She shrugged, and then reminded herself to ask Adam about her particular peculiarities as soon as she got home. As soon as she turned around, however, she saw a delightful pair of designer shoes, she was sure that she needed to have.

Hermione stepped into the Subway and the one moment she had to stand for herself, she groaned. Why was all of this happening to her now? She had gotten through ten years of not seeing anyone from Hogwarts, and now it was like a bloody school reunion happening over a matter of weeks. She knew she was running out of time, and now she had to tell Anna and George the truth. It was only a matter of time before George would find out and only a matter of time before Anna would hate her and then begin to rebel, and then would move out, join a strip club, go downwards and spiral into depression, go into hard drugs (muggle and wizard), hit rock bottom, find a charming man when she was trying to work for drugs, be sent to rehabilitation, finally make a name for herself, write a bestseller and point all the blame to—

"Hermione," Her mother said later on as they began to set the table for dinner and Hermione shared her slightly irrational fears, "You're overreacting just slightly."

"Don't you think I know that mother?" Hermione asked. Her mother sighed and walked over to Hermione, brushing dust off of the mahogany dining table as she did. She placed a comforting hand on Hermione's shoulder and kissed her daughter's forehead.

"I know you do, but do you know that?" She asked. Hermione shrugged and sat down on the chair, she put her head in her hands.

"None of this was supposed to happen," she wailed. Jane sat down across from her and put both her hands on Hermione's knees and stared straight into Hermione's eyes.

"Well you know what pumpkin? They did." She said firmly, "And you can be a four year old and continue to run away from all of your problems, or you can face your worst fears and own up to the past years." Hermione stared down at the corner of the rug under the dining table. "What's the worst that can happen?" She asked.

"He could leave, and abandon us," said Hermione despondently.

"How is that any different from anything going on right now? You're alone, and without closure, at least by admitting the truth, you'll get closure," she said kindly setting the plates. The TV could be heard in the background as the claymation version of Rudolph the Red Nosed reindeer could be heard, and Anna sitting with her grandfather in the living room making fun of the cheesy dialogue and plot. Hermione finished checking the table, and then walked to the doorframe and looked into the expansive living room where Anna was leaning on her father and they both did not seem like they could be having any more fun.

Hermione imagined George sitting there making fun of this with the three of them, Molly fussing around in the kitchen making sure everything would be alright and Arthur sitting in awe in the armchair beside the couch, staring at the little black box full of colors. Yes, Hermione could picture the idyllic scene, but would she actually ever make it happen? Would she let it go further than just a daydream?

O0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o000o0

"What are we doing?" George asked one day as they lay in her bed. This weekend they did not go away to the lake, but rather stayed at her flat. It was not the first time they had done this, but it had been the first night he had spent the night.

"You're really asking?" Hermione asked as she sat up to put on her shirt and skirt. She went over to the mirror and began to fix her hair. She arranged the curls, and then rearranged them. She then tested the final product with a hair band and then, took the hair band off. She decided she liked it better off and then began to play around with various shades of lipstick. Upon deciding which shade would match her look, she stood up and headed to the bathroom.

"Ron coming home today?" George asked standing up out of bed, and then leaning back to crack his back. Hermione nodded.

"He got the weekend off, so I figured, why not spend some time. And with Ginny away at school, it can be the three of us again." She smiled as George's arms snaked around her waist and she felt his lips caress her neck.

"Ooh stop," she cooed, "Or else I will never get ready. Plus Ron should be at the Burrow by now and Molly's having us over for lunch," She said moving his arms away and heading over to her closet, searching through appropriate clothes to wear. George stared down at the floor, staring at his feet. Suddenly an idea came to mind.

"How bout I come to lunch with you? Mum hasn't seen me in forever, and we could just say that we were working in the morning." He said. "After all, if we're opening during Winterval, then, we probably should be getting the store and all of our affairs in order." He said highlighting the word affairs. Hermione smiled.

"That's not a terrible idea. Plus it'd do Molly some good to see you up and about every once in a while."

"Very well, I will just floo home and then I will see you later today." He said beginning to walk out as Hermione stopped him.

"Wait, are you sure it won't be awkward?" She asked. He cocked his head.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"With Ron—and me—and you, all, well together," she stated. She could see George's face turn into a grimace, and then an oddly forced smile.

"Oh, are you two still…?" He asked, trying to sound casual, but messing it up badly in the process.

"I don't know," said Hermione honestly, biting her lip at the same time.

"You don't know?" George repeated slowly, trying to grasp the situation.

"It's complicated." Hermione admitted.

"It's complicated?" George echoed.

"Are you a parrot?" Hermione asked turning to him, obviously irritated. George sat on the bed, putting his trousers back on, and then he proceeded to slowly put his undershirt on over his head. He was buttoning his shirt up when he cleared his throat. Hermione stared at him, waiting for him to say something.

"Then I'm going to ask again," he said slowly, "What are we doing?" He asked, the dreaded question coming up again.

"I don't know," Hermione said honestly. George let out an exasperated sigh.

"Hermione," he said softly, but dangerously.

"George," she said. "I-I really just—"

"Don't know?" George finished angrily. "Can you please say something else?" He asked. Hermione shook her head.

"No, I can't," she stated. She walked over to the bed and sat down beside George, wrapping her small silk robe tighter around herself. "I was basically with him for seven years, and up until a few months ago, I couldn't imagine myself living without him, so please forgive me if it takes me a little while to try and sort out my feelings." George turned and stared at her, anger apparent in his eyes, tears forming in hers.

"Please," she repeated, almost pathetically. George shook his head, buttoned up his shirt and left the room silently, leaving Hermione in tears, confused about the past few months and what it meant for both of them. As she sat there, nervous about seeing Ron again, she felt sick to her stomach. Nausea started to come and she felt her dinner bubbling up inside of her. She attributed this sick spell to the sheer stress of two wonderful men who had cared for her. She did not know which one to pick, while one offered her passion and romance, the other provided stability and a future. She knew that she could grow passionate for Ronald, and yet from the way George reacted, perhaps there was a future with him after all. Unfortunately the vomit impulse had taken over, and she did not have time to contemplate her situation, as her stomach took over, and she ran to the bathroom.

After she had cleaned up after herself, she put her clothes together, and wore a simple tasteful skirt and a nice blouse and headed over to the Burrow. Much to her dismay, George was sitting at the breakfast table along with Harry. Ron was nowhere to be seen at the moment, but she was sure he was somewhere there. She sighed and took several deep breaths and entered the kitchen.

George refused to look at her, but still maintained a relatively cheery disposition as his mother fussed about him. She had gotten to know George enough to know that he was definitely faking his happiness, and sensed deep anger bubbling up. But he animatedly talked to Harry about new developments in the shop, and as Hermione was about to walk over to the two men, she felt herself being lifted up and twirled around. A pair of arms twisted her about, and she found herself looking into Ron's eyes. She cursed herself as he kissed her enthusiastically knowing that this was not easy for George to bear. She returned the kiss with equal enthusiasm and then broke apart as quickly as possible, without alerting anyone to any sort of suspicion.

"You look amazing," Ron said, moving a lock of her hair to behind her ear.

"Well what about you, Mr. Bicep," Hermione said poking his arm. Ron smiled sheepishly. "You look good too." She said smiling.

"Mum, can we have breakfast before I gag?" George asked jokingly. He gave a jovial laugh and stood up and walked over to Ron. He gave his younger brother a strong pat on the back and then went back to his table.

"Very well," said Molly, "But Arthur will be home soon, and I'm sure he would love to join so if you would wait." She said raising an eyebrow at George. George groaned playfully and sat back down, giving Hermione a pointed look as he did.

The wait for Arthur was excruciatingly awkward, George shot Hermione glares when no one else was looking, and this just drove Hermione to seek even greater comfort from Ron who was eager to give it, although confused by her sudden desire for public displays of affection. After Arthur had arrived, they all ate lunch in comfortable silence when Molly spoke up.

"So Harry, Ron, I hear you have some good news for us?" She asked. Harry nodded.

"Yeah, we got a few weeks off from training, so we'll be here, and then we'll go back for a week, take our exams, pass, and then become part of the Auror elite." He said excitedly. Hermione felt her stomach lurch; Ron staying was not what she had in mind. Although it was a pleasant surprise, it was definitely not what she had in mind and she began to feel ill once more. Able to prevent it, she quickly uttered a charm to calm her insides. George noticed her sudden change from cooing to sick, and cast a concerned eye to her quickly, and then suddenly replaced it with an air of indifference.

"Well brother," he said, "I for one am ecstatic that you are back for a while, Hermione has been getting awfully lonely," he said. Ron cocked his head to the side. "I think we should have a party for you two next weekend, there's a lovely banquet hall in Hogsmeade, that way Ginny can join us and we can just have a marvelous Weasley Family _affair_." He smiled. Hermione furrowed her eyebrows.

"Can we bring dates?" Ron asked, putting his hand on Hermione's leg.

"Of course you can," Molly said, "What a silly question. And regardless, Hermione is a member of the family. George I think that's a wonderful idea." She said.

"Do you have anyone to bring?" Harry asked George.

"Well I'm kind of seeing this one witch, but I think she has an event, she'll have to choose which one to go to." Said George.

"Well maybe you're just making it hard for her and not giving her enough time to pick. After all, next weekend is sort of a last minute thing, and if she's been committed to the other event long enough, then she can't just let everyone down that easily." She exclaimed. All heads at the table turned to her. George stared at her rather angrily and stood up and walked out of the room.

"Blimey," said Ron. Hermione fought every urge to go after him, and then when she had just rationalized herself out of chasing him upstairs, Ron turned to her.

"I think I'd better go and check up on him." He said. Hermione nodded, hoping and praying that George did not say anything she'd later regret.

George sat upstairs throwing a quaffle up in the air and then catching it when Ron entered the room.

"You okay mate?" Ron asked. George sighed.

"Am I ever?" He asked. Ron sat down beside him and leaned against the bed.

"What was that?" Ron asked. "If you don't mind me asking. Are you and Hermione fighting?"

"In a sense, we've just had some disagreements about the store recently. I gave her an office for the time being and she can't choose between two colors."

"This is over a color palate?" Ron asked, flummoxed. George shrugged.

"That and we've been working in close quarters for so long, I think this was just the last straw. But she has between two colors at this point, and she's painted the office this dark shade of red. But she also likes the bright playful orange, and has been playing with that for a bit, but now she has to choose between the two of them, and I can't afford to repaint it again if she decides she doesn't want the orange, so I'm forcing her to pick, and its hard." He said. Ron was confused.

"You're barmy," He said.

"I suppose I am," George laughed patting Ron on the back. Although he was never one to admit it, it was difficult for him to hate Ron for any extended period of time.

0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o

"So, since you're healing up really well after your surgeries, I don't see any reason why you should stay here past tomorrow." The nurse told George as she checked up on him and he did a small walking lap around the room. George painfully sat back down on the bed as she reattached leads and the vitals monitor.

"I'd even send you home today but Dr. Fischer wants to keep you another night to make sure that nothing slides out of place, and then she can just take out your stitches tomorrow, since it should have all healed by now." The nurse continued to chatter away as George began to drown her out, going back to his happy place. He thought of the lake, and the small abandoned cottage.

He used the cottage to think after Hermione's disappearance. Although he never entered out of respect, the lake was a good place to collect his thoughts, and ever since he had pretty much moved to the States, he would just think about the calm waters and the birds chirping and the fields of daffodils.

As he thought of the beauty and the nature, he drifted off into another night of dreamless slumber.

(A/N) I AM SOOOOO sorry it took me THIS long to update :-(

My life has been sooo hectic and busy and finals were tough and then my computer had to be sent back to the store, and then I lost the chapter because my computer had to be fixed, but long story short, (no pun intended), here's the next chapter in the saga. The flashbacks are almost finished, and then it'll be a few chapters set in the present-ish, and then an epilogue and then the end! : ) Thanks for reading, please review, and you will never wait this long for a chapter again.

In fact, I know what I'm going to write next, so if I get over 10 reviews, I'll have the next chapter up by Monday!


	12. The One With the Truth

(A/N) Hey guys, Just wanted to wish happy belated birthday to theLocket, you are my inspiration to keep on going 3 you! 3

PS Doctors are sweet

Hermione fidgeted with her skirt, making sure the ends met her knee. Her shirt was tucked into the top and she stared at her reflection in the mirror. For some reason her skirt did not close all the way, she did not know why and eventually gave up. She went back into her closet and picked out a looser dress meant for the warmer spring days. She paired the dress with black leggings and wore boots to try to turn it into something more apropos for December; she placed a cardigan around her shoulders and stared unhappily at the reflection in front of her.

While her skin had never looked better, she felt uncomfortably bloated. Her weight had never seemed to be an actual issue for her, but here she was today. Perhaps her physical exertion had slowed down, after all she was not chasing after a madman trying to end his rule of terror, so it might have affected how she processed energy. She sighed and buttoned up her cardigan, trying to hide the recent weight gain that had developed. She put her hands on her hips and sighed. She then proceeded to swear to herself that she would go jogging every day from now on. She heard her doorbell ring and she walked over, Ron stood there holding flowers and chocolate and a sheepish grin was on his face.

"Hi," he said softly.

"Hey," said Hermione.

"You look beautiful," said Ron, walking up to her and encircling her small figure into his lankier frame. Hermione returned the embrace and felt absolutely horrible in doing so.

"Thanks," said Hermione. "You look very handsome." She said with a somewhat forced grin.

"Yeah, clean up nicely don't I?" He said. He handed her the flowers and chocolate.

"You really didn't have to," said Hermione.

"Nonsense, I just passing by the garage on the way here and there was this flower shop, and I stopped in and I saw these beautiful violets and I thought of you." He said with a grin, "And then I got the box of chocolates at the garage—so its no big deal really," he said turning a shade of red that causing a stark contrast with his green shirt. He looked almost festive, Hermione noted to herself.

"Shall we?" Ron asked holding out his arm in order to do a side by side apparition. Hermione smiled and then hesitated, her apparitions had been getting weaker and weaker, she decided to risk it and then do a side-along with him, and hopefully it would not be too bad. They apparated outside the small banquet hall in Hogsmeade, music was playing softly in the background and Hermione felt her stomach lurch. They both entered, and Ron went immediately over to Harry and they both began to speak. Hermione followed quietly, deep in thought. She looked around the room and saw George with his arms around another witch, deep in conversation with her. He looked over at her and then back at the witch and shrugged. He then proceeded to laugh rather loudly and obnoxiously at her comment, whatever she had made. Hermione took her eyes off of him and then decided to join Harry and Ron in conversation rather loudly as well, rivaling George's.

George felt his chest thumping as this competition grew. Hermione looked absolutely gorgeous, in fact, he had never seen her more beautiful and wished that he could wrap his arms around her and kiss her neck. His date was not any less beautiful, in fact, she was one of the models who posed for Witch Weekly on a regular basis, she had even become the spokesmodel for Bewitched, a new perfume out on the market. It was all she ever talked about in her little French accent. He had met her when he was out buying some supplies for the hall, and she had recognized him from his stories in the Prophet.

"Is that Adrienne deBeau?" Ron asked looking over where Hermione was staring.

"I think that is," Harry echoed.

"Who's Adrienne deBeau?" Hermione asked.

"You're joking," said Ron looking at her wide eyed, "she's been rated in the top ten most gorgeous women in Warlock's Monthly for the past 10 years!" He exclaimed.

"Last month, she was the centerfold for Playwizard," said Harry excitedly. Ron nodded fervently.

"And you would know this how?" Hermione asked raising her eyebrow at Ron.

"Seamus had a copy," said Ron quickly. Hermione shook her head a little bit, but realized that she would be a hypocrite if she were mad at Ron about it. Ginny entered the room at this moment and Harry excused himself from the group to join her. Hermione felt Ron's arm snake around her waist and he whispered into her ear.

"Never found her much attractive myself, I have more of a feeling towards smart bookish types myself," he said. Hermione felt herself blushing and she hugged Ron. As he held her in strong arms, she felt George's icy stare descend upon the both of them. She closed her eyes and felt tears brimming up to the surface, and a small lump appeared at the back of her throat as she felt like crying. Nevertheless, as they both emerged from the embrace, she managed to compose herself and she smiled up at Ron.

They both went and sat on the couches, he was eager to tell her stories of the training, and how he finally had learned to overcome harsh conditions, and now could take on anything. He feared that life would not be exciting once he was out of training, but he was thankful for everything he had learned. While he talked, Hermione turned around and looked at George who was similarly pretending to be engrossed in his "date's" stories. At one point he turned and made eye contact with Hermione and she shuddered.

"I need to get a drink," she said, interrupting Ron's story. He nodded, at that moment, Harry and Ginny joined Ron at that table, they both had plates of hors d'œuvres in hand and were animatedly chatting. Hermione stood up and walked over to the bar, she hesitated as her stomach lurched at the smell of alcohol, and her eyes widened as a small realization hit her. _What if…_?

She dismissed it, but just to be safe, asked for an apple juice. She felt someone coming next to her as she was poured the juice.

"Nice party," George commented.

"Yep," said Hermione, both of them stared straight ahead.

"You look good," said George.

"As do you," said Hermione.

"How's Ron?" George asked after a momentary pause.

"Fine, how's your date?" Hermione asked. The word "date" came out a little more snappily than she meant to say it.

"Vapid," said George in a word. "2 hours and she probably doesn't even know my last name." He chuckled honestly. Hermione smiled and turned to him. They both stared at each other for a few seconds and then laughed a little awkwardly.

"We need to talk," said Hermione. George nodded.

"Lake house in five minutes?" He asked. Hermione nodded and walked over to Ginny, Harry, and Ron.

"Hey Ron," she said, "I'm not feeling very good, I think I might just apparate home." He nodded.

"Want me to take you?" He asked. She shook her head.

"I'll probably just go straight to bed," she said.

"Mind if I stay then?" He asked. She shook her head.

"Please do," she said kissing him on the cheek. He kissed her cheek back and she walked outside. Snow was falling softly on the lane, and the branches of the bushes were all covered in the white powder. She walked over to the Three Broomsticks and asked if she could use their floo, unsure if apparating when she was not feeling 100 percent was the smartest idea.

The familiar green swirls made her a little nauseous as she spun around in the flames and landed in the fireplace of the cozy home. She emerged and noticed George sitting on the couch in the other room. She wiped the soot off of herself, and then walked over to George and sat down.

"Sorry, just had to tell Ron I was leaving."

"Nonsense, I just walked Adrienne to the Three Broomsticks, she's doing a winter photoshoot there tomorrow," said George chuckling. "She said, 'Goodnight Gerry,' and kissed me on the cheek." Hermione smiled. They both proceeded to sit there in silence.

"Ron asked if we could move in together after he comes back, he gave his flat up before they left for training." She said.

"What did you say?" George asked, staring at the wall, knowing if he took one look at her, he would be on top of her, unable to control himself.

"I said yes," said Hermione, determined not to look at him.

"We never said this would be serious," said George resignedly.

"I guess not," Hermione said, feeling tears trail their way down her cheeks.

"So this is over." George leaned back in his chair and sighed. Hermione looked down.

"Ron and me, we have this history," she said softly. She knew that was not why she did it; she knew Ron's jealous nature. She also knew that George would not resent Ron, but Ron would resent George. She did not want George losing two brothers in one year. He would move on from her, but Ron was his family. She was a shag, and nothing else, she told herself.

"I understand," he said. He didn't. They both stared at one another sadly, the holiday was over, and soon both of them would resume lives where they would rarely speak to one another. She sighed. He did as well. He gripped the cushion on the sofa to stop himself from enveloping her in one of his hugs. He finally looked over, and she was silently crying to herself. He touched his face, and realized that he had been crying as well. She looked over at him and leaned over to touch his hand reassuringly, trying to tell him everything would be all right. George gripped her hand and then let go.

"I wish it didn't have to end this way," he said softly, staring down at the ground as Hermione began to stand.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, looking at him. He stood up to stand at eye level with her.

"If I had known the last time I held your hands was the last time," he clasped her hands, "I would have studied everything about them, the length of your nails, the lines, how much smaller they are than mine." Hermione looked down at her hands.

"If I had known the last time I had touched your face was the last," he removed one of his hands from hers and caressed her cheek with the back of his hand and she closed her eyes, "I would have memorized every feature, the way you close your eyelids, the way your mouth opens and closes when you are speechless but still want to say something, the way your nose crinkles up when my hands touch something ticklish," he said, his other hand grazing up her hip. Like clockwork, her nose crinkled up and she was shocked, her mouth opening slightly and then closing again.

"If I had known the last time I kissed you," he said, moving dangerously close, "was the last time," he said moving closer still, "I would have taken the time to make sure I remembered how your lips tasted, how your tongue moved in rhythm with mine, how your heart quickened when I deepen the kiss," he said moving her lips over hers and kissing her with passion he had rarely ever felt before. She closed her eyes and gave into the kiss fully, deepening it with her tongue. She felt her hands move up to his hair and she tangled her fingers in his shaggy locks. He had his hands on her hips crushing them into his and then he snaked his arms down to her legs. He lifted both of them up and had her straddling his waist as he walked slowly with her up the stairs to the bedroom.

As he lay her down he whispered in her ear, "If I had known the last time I was with you, would be the last," he said, "I would have never stopped." He said simply. Hermione stared deep into his eyes and nodded.

"Please," she said, her legs still wrapped around his waist, "Her hands cupping his face, pulling him closer to her, while grinding her hips against his. He lifted her dress up and she felt his warm hand underneath, undoing the clasp of her bra and taking that and her dress at the same time and tossing it to the side. She undid the buttons of his shirt quickly and that landed in the same area as her dress. The rest passed in a haze, as both of them made the last time as memorable as possible.

The sun rose above the Lake District that morning in a brilliant display, the frozen waters of the lakes seemed to shimmer in the sun's glow. A warm fire crackled in the fireplace of the loft where Hermione was putting her clothes back on. George lay back in the mattress, still snoring. She stretched and then put her coat on, also adding the scarf and the hat. The gloves she would leave for when she left the cottage. She looked over her note and placed it on the pillow above his head. She took a few moments and gently caressed his face, leaving a kiss on his forehead. He tossed and turned a little in his sleep, but remained dreaming. He smiled a little as her lips left his forehead and sighed, turning over in the opposite direction and pulling the blankets closer to himself. She touched her stomach for a few seconds and wondered if it could be possible, if somehow the charms had already failed them previously. Pushing these thoughts to the back of her head, she walked away from him, her heart heavy.

She stepped out into the cool crisp air and put on her gloves, she then proceeded to apparate into Central London, to a familiar building. She opened the door, it jingled a little and she walked into the small convenience store and headed straight for the family planning aisles. She marched past the condoms, and headed to the one place that she had thought that she would never end up. She picked up one of the pink boxes, and sighed as she looked at it. She hoped it would not tell her what she was dreading to hear.

George woke up as Hermione apparated outside with a loud pop. He looked out the window and only managed to catch a glimpse of her as she disappeared. He sighed and pulled on his pants and placed a shirt over his head before he caught a glimpse of the small parchment on the pillow beside him. He picked it up and began to read the elegant handwriting, feeling his stomach drop several stories as his eyes scanned the condemning words.

_My Dearest George_

_I'm sorry I could not say goodbye, perhaps it is easier this way. I just wanted to tell you that whatever happens, I will always look on our past summer with utmost fondness. _

_Goodbye_

_Truly, Hermione_

The door opened on a desolate, and empty apartment. It was large and rather elaborate, and looked like the cover of some men's magazine, not that George had any say in the furniture, it was mostly furnished by his interior decorator just in case he ever had to give an interview at his home, he needed to look like the face of the company. He hobbled slowly inside using his crutches and walked over to the small bar and poured himself a shot of firewhiskey, which he then downed in one gulp. He sat down on his couch when he heard the doorbell ring. Grunting angrily, he stood up and walked over to the doorway and opened the door, and there was Hermione standing in the hallway, looking nervous and fidgety.

"Hermione," he said surprised. She smiled softly and reached into her bag.

"I fixed it, or well, I sent it to Ollivanders to have fixed," she said, "he sent it back to me." She stared down as she handed him his wand. A small smile crept up on George's face as he held his wand again. They stood in the doorway for a couple awkward seconds before George finally spoke.

"Would you like to come in for a cup of coffee?" He asked. Hermione nodded and walked in, following George slowly as she did.

"I'll just get it myself," she offered. He waved her away and hobbled into his kitchen and with a few flicks of his wand, the coffee began to brew magically and he made his way back into the living room. He sat down on the couch opposite hers and they both avoided staring at each other, both getting déjà vu of the last time they had this encounter.

It was all George could do to keep himself from jumping up and yelling at her, asking her what the hell happened, why she just disappeared from the face of the planet for ten years. He sighed a little as they sat awkwardly. Of course Hermione had something to say, he knew her well enough for that, but he also knew that he did not have time to remain beating around the bush.

"What's going on?" He asked more coldly than he intended, "I have some work I should be getting around to." He said. Hermione looked up at him and furrowed her eyebrows.

"Sorry," she said chuckling a little bit to herself, "I just need to tell you something, I have to be honest with you. But it's huge, and not something one can break quite easily, but I suppose, well, I should start by saying—" she glanced over at him, he seemed more confused than angry at this point, but she knew she had to get it out at some point.

"What is it?" He asked, his expression softening.

"Well, ten years ago, I became very ill, well not very ill, just, I got sick a lot and was pretty much nauseous at the smell of anything resembling food. After our last encounter, I went to the doctor, and well," she said, and then stopped, scared to go on further. She took a deep breath and decided to take the plunge, "Well, he said the same thing a healer told me later that day, and a muggle test showed me the same result, as well as a wizarding result." She began to feel her leg quiver and shake and noticed her whole body was. Her heart was beating so loud it seemed to pound out of her chest.

"What's going on Hermione?" George asked, wondering if he should have taken down notes while she was talking to make sense of the whole thing.

"Now remember, I was so young when this happened, not even out of my teenage years, unsure of what I wanted in life," said Hermione, "I did not have the maturity required to deal with this kind of-situation," she said.

"Which would be…" said George.

"I was pregnant," said Hermione.

With a crash, his mug of coffee hit the floor, spilling the brown contents everywhere. George's jaw dropped.

"With a baby?" He asked. Hermione nodded. He looked down at the ground and then back up at her again. He pulled his wand out and quickly cleaned up the spill and then he stood up, with his crutches, and walked back into the kitchen as quickly as he could muster.

"And this baby," he continued, "He—she—it-?"

"She's 10 years old, will be 11 next August," said Hermione.

"And she's mine?" George asked.

"Yes," said Hermione standing up and walking over to the window.

"You sure?" George asked.

"I never slept with Ron," said Hermione.

"Oh." She could hear surprise in George's voice. She turned to look at him and saw that he disappeared, and then she heard the door slam and she knew that must have been his bedroom. She pulled an envelope out of her purse, left it on the coffee table and left the apartment in a hurry, she felt her heart exploding and she wanted to curl up in a corner and just wither away.

Several hours later, George left his bedroom, less angry than he was than when he went in. He noticed Hermione had left her coffee mug on the coffee table, and beside it there was a pretty large envelope. He picked it up and removed several sheets of paper. It was a letter from Hermione.

_Dear George, _

_When people ask me what the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life was, my answer would not be what you would think. The hardest thing would not be defeating Voldemort, trying to maintain my status as the brightest witch of my age, nor would it be my entire medical school experience. It was when we were talking at the lake house the night of Ronald and Harry's welcome back party. It was that night I made the hardest decision of my life. _

_Did I choose incorrectly? Unfortunately of that I will never know. But I know that it was the only thing I knew to do at that moment. You see, I knew that if we had come out about our relationship, with Ron's nature the way it is, you would have lost him. Me you could get over, I rationalized, I was never that important, but family, brotherhood, runs through the blood. You would get over me, and maybe eventually even find yourself another girl. I would learn to love Ron as I did you. _

_Yes, I fell in love with you. When? I don't know, but know that our affair, if that's what we'll call it, was one that I took great pleasure in, and remember with great fondness. Anyways, I digress. As I may have mentioned to you in person, I was ill during that week and finally sought out medical attention, and had gotten the test results that had been less than desirable. _

_Unable to believe it, I used the tests from both the muggle and the wizard convenience store to triple and quadruple check the results I had gotten from both a healer and a doctor. I was with child, and because of that, I panicked. _

_There is a reason that teenage pregnancies are a bad idea, teenagers are the cockiest bunch of people out there. I thought I knew what was best for myself and everybody, and unfortunately that involved running away. This was the same rationalization that drove me to pick Ron, both you and he would get over me eventually, but the fact of the matter is, he is your brother, and that was a far greater connection than what I thought we had. _

_For that, for lying, for all of the emotional turmoil I put you through, I apologize heartily. I really regret my reasoning for running away, as I know now that I should have trusted you guys to react appropriately. _

_Nine months later, I had a beautiful baby girl, Georgiana Marie Granger, Anna for short. She has auburn hair, freckles, and gorgeous curly hair. Although she is easily the brightest student in the class, she does not pay attention to her teachers, and instead uses her brilliance to come up with pranks and jokes. She's gotten me several times too. I've enclosed pictures, and you can choose to be as involved from now on as you want. Although, please call me ahead of time so I can prepare her to meet you. _

_She's asked about you several times, and every time I have been partially honest, because, lets face it, she needs to learn how to follow rules from someone. I know I made a great error in not including you in her life, but I would really love it if you would meet her, and if you don't want to ever have anything to do with me, I respect that completely. My phone number is, 555-3845. _

_Best, _

_Hermione _

George read and reread the letter a few times and looked at the pictures. He suddenly recognized the face; this was the little girl who had spoken to him in the park. All this time he had met his own daughter, and had not known it. A smile crept to his face as he read the part about pranking, even his genes did not allow blind rule following. He grinned genuinely for the first time.

It was not Georgiana's fault about what happened, he could not keep her in blame, and he would take greater part in her life. Whether or not he actually forgave Hermione was not something that had come to his mind. He was angry, of that he was sure, but other than that, he knew, he had a daughter out there, and he would do right by her. He stared around his cold apartment, and then decided that it wouldn't continue. Something had to change, and it might as well have been him.

He hobbled over to his phone and dialed the number on the letter.

"Hello?" Hermione's voice said softly on the other end.

"Hermione?" He asked.

"George?" She asked.

"Yep," he said.

"You own a phone?" She asked.

"Yeah, figured if I ever had muggle clients, this would be the way to contact them, nifty little invention," he added.

"So," she said.

"Right, yeah, when can I come by and meet her?" He asked. "I have an appointment with the healer who will come by tomorrow morning to just fix me up, and then I can swing by afterwards," he said sort of excitedly.

"That sounds great. How about around 12 ish? I have to go to work at 1, but I can give the nanny the day off, if you want, and you can take her for the day. Unless you want—"

"That would be perfect," George interrupted. He could almost hear Hermione grinning on the other end.

"Brilliant," said Hermione, "I'll talk to Emma and Anna tonight," she said.

"Okay see you then," said George.

"Bye," said Hermione clicking her phone closed. George did the same and they both sighed.

"What's up?" Ryan asked from the couch. Hermione sighed and realized she should get to the reason she called him and asked him over.

"Yeah, so, you know how Anna doesn't exactly have a live-in dad," said Hermione. Ryan nodded.

"Yeap," he said. Hermione sat beside him.

"Well, truth is, I kind of hid the fact that she exists from him…well I didn't hide it, I just never brought it up," she said. Ryan cocked his head.

"Well, its just, all this is happening, and with her dad coming back in her life, I just don't—" He placed his finger on her lips.

"Shhh," he said, stopping her from continuing. "I understand." He said. Hermione smiled. "Plus, I thought it was too good to be true to begin with."

"Yeah I guess it was," said Hermione agreeing.

"So you planning on getting back together with baby daddy?" Ryan asked standing up and putting his coat on. Hermione's eyebrows went up in shock.

"No sorry," he added, "Don't answer that, I'm just prying." He leaned down and kissed her cheek. "But hey, it was fun while it lasted." He hugged her tightly and she reciprocated, ready to finally begin a new, more honest chapter in her life.

Did she know whether or not she wanted to try and start something with George? She did not. But she knew if she never tried, then she would never get anything done. She knew it would take George a while to forgive her for everything she had done, including not telling him about a baby and running away when she knew that she should have picked and stayed with George all along. But the fact that it had taken him such a short amount of time to accept the fact that he had a biological daughter was a good thing. She walked into Anna's room and saw her reading a book and she sat down on the bed next to her.

"Hey," said Anna looking up.

"Hey," said Hermione, "So guess who's coming to take you to lunch tomorrow."

"Who?" Asked Anna eagerly.

"Your father," she said happily. Anna looked as if she had just been told she could indeed have a pony and keep it in her room.

"Seriously?" She asked. Hermione nodded.

"Well he's back in town, and I finally spoke with him, so he wants to meet you." Hermione said. Anna smiled.

"What does he look like?" She asked.

"Well," said Hermione, scooting next to Anna in the bed and getting under the covers with her, "He's tall, and he has a great smile, and possibly the nicest face you'll ever see. Plus, he was in this huge battle when we were younger, and so he's lost his ear." Anna gasped. "But don't worry, its just a scar now, he's alright." Said Hermione.

"What is he like?" Anna asked.

"Well, he pretty much believes in bending the rules, and pranks."

"Cool."

"Yep. Oh and also, we're all witches and wizards," Hermione added, almost as an after thought.

"Wanna run that by me again?" Anna asked, her voice suddenly dropping to monotone.

"You're a witch," said Hermione dead seriously.

"No," said Anna disbelievingly. And Hermione sat and proceeded to tell her most of her childhood and history, knowing now that her daughter deserved to know the truth. At this point, since everyone else was, why exclude her daughter from this mess?

(A/N) I know the end seems a little rushed, but I feel like telling the truth is a little bit like ripping the bandaid, plus I didn't want Hermione to really bullshit her daughter, anyhoo read and review. :D


	13. The One Where George And Anna Grow Close

EDIT: Happy Birthday Harry Potter, and in honor of both his and JK Rowling's birthday, here's an update. :)

"So when the jar broke, I was doing it with my magic?" Anna asked. Hermione nodded, putting the bowls for the cereal out and pouring it all in. Anna stared down at her food and scrunched her nose up. Emma emerged from her bedroom and walked over to the kitchen.

"Emma I told you, take the day off," Hermione said with a nervous grin. Emma shrugged.

"Really, I have nothing do better," she said.

"Don't you have exams coming up in a week or two?" Asked Hermione. Emma sighed and nodded.

"Oui 'ermione," she said, sighing.

"Well eat some breakfast and go back to your studying," said Hermione with a grin.

"At least I fold clothes," Emma offered.

"Emma…" said Hermione warningly, pouring milk into two bowls, "Have some cereal with us, and then study, isn't that the rules of being an au pair, you're here for the education?"

"Oui," said Emma sheepishly. Hermione smiled and shook her head as the three of them ate. Anna knew to keep quiet about her newfound revelation until Emma had finished and then gone to her room to complete studying. As soon as the door shut on the French au pair, Anna leaned over the table.

"So next year I can go to this Pigwarts?"

"Hogwarts," said Hermione, "And yes, I suppose if you want to. We could also send you to the Salem Institute here, but we'll talk about that later. Now go finish your homework, I'll call you when he gets here," she said smiling. Anna nodded and ran to her room to finish her work, leaving Hermione to clear up the table on her own. As she cleaned the apartment she wondered how everything would work out, there was a definite lump in her stomach as she dreaded seeing George again. She sighed, and felt a small tremble in her hands, it was almost like the night before she took her medical boards except this time it was her old lover meeting her…no sorry, their daughter for the first time.

She really regretted not telling him at this point, it was a stupid mistake, the mistake of a teenager who thought that she knew everything. She had seen it herself at the hospital, a sixteen-year-old pregnant girl coming in alone to give birth. At least Hermione had family supporting her; this girl had no one. She remembered how haunting that night had become, she was on her neo-natal surgery rotation, and this girl came up from the emergency room. She was obviously way underage, and did not seem to have anyone with her. Hermione was assigned to essentially pretend to be her family and keep her company until the hospital could find someone that would be her legal guardian. But this girl, as much as Hermione wanted to feel sorry for her, thought she was the only pregnant teenager in the world and was absolutely incorrigible. She acted as if she thought everyone felt that they were over her, and she had a streak of rebellion attitude. When Hermione tried to sympathize, she talked back, and felt that she knew better. And as this girl spoke, Hermione realized that she was just like Hermione, thought she knew better than everyone else around her. She wanted to take the burden upon herself, the burden of having and raising a child. It was almost heartbreaking to see this girl making the same mistakes she had made only a few years before.

Although there were many pregnant teenagers on the island of Manhattan by the time Hermione was finished, this girl remained the only one she truly remembered. She sighed and began to wash dishes by hand, feeling a small sense of accomplishment as the apartment was cleaned. It was big days like this that she missed her grandmother. Her grandmother had rescued her from beyond despair, giving her a home and education and making sure she could provide Anna with the best of care no matter what. All these thoughts flooded her head and she leaned against the bar, staring at the faint green glow of the digital watch saying she had less than an hour until he arrived.

Feeling a slight sense of panic, and a fluttering in her stomach, Hermione walked into her room checking her closet as she did for some clothes that did not look like she had just woken up. She finally settled on a pair of jeans, a tank top and a wrap sweater. It looked comfortable enough, and she knew it did not look like she was trying way too hard. She then proceeded to the bathroom, turned on the shower and then hoped the doorbell did not ring while she was in there.

After a quick shower, she put on her ensemble and sat on her sofa waiting for the doorbell to ring. Feeling a stab of nostalgia, she walked over to what looked like an end table. She took the vase off of it, and then took the table cloth she had placed over it and stared at her old school trunk. She took a deep breath, opened it, and pulled out her NEWT spell book she had gotten at the beginning of her sixth year, eager to move ahead. Opening it up, she began to read, drinking up the review sectioins at the beginning, going over the familiar wand movements in her head.

A strange thrill filled her, took over her to her very bones as she realized with glee that she did not have to hide this anymore. No anger of George's could take this happiness away, she was finally free. She realized that all it took was honesty, and maybe it was ten years too late, but now she could finally be herself. As she came to that realization the buzzer began to ring.

_Bzzzzzz_

"Coming!" She exclaimed uselessly, getting up and wrapping her sweater around herself. She pressed the call button.

"Hey," she said, knowing what she would hear on the other end.

"Hey," his voice said.

"Come on up." She pressed the buzzer to let him in and then waited for him to walk up the few flights of stairs over to her unit. A wave of nausea rolled over her stomach and she tried to take calming breaths. Alas the calming breaths did not help, as she felt a giant lump rise to her throat, and she realized it was growing harder and harder to breathe. Her heart began to pound harder than it ever had as nerves almost completely immobilized her. She took several more deep breaths when she heard the knock at the door. Before he could knock a second time, she had opened the door.

George Weasley stood at her doorway, one arm extended out as he was prepared to knock for the second time. He held a small teddy bear in one hand, as well as a gift basket. Hermione couldn't help but feel slightly warm at the sight of him. Although on top of that, he was wearing a navy blue three-piece suit, obviously feeling slightly overdressed. He smiled sheepishly.

"Hey," he said softly.

"Hi," said Hermione. They both stood there, unsure of what to do. Should they hug? Did societal norms allow that type of gesture after all they had gone through? Would a handshake be enough? Little did they know that they were both confused at what to do until Hermione spoke.

"Please come in," she said, "Make yourself at home." She pointed out the sofas and chairs. She stood awkwardly behind the couch and tried her best to smile confidently. "Can I get you something to drink? Soda? Coffee? Tea?" She asked. George shook his head.

"No thank you," he said. She stood quietly in the kitchen, staring down at the floor, trying to flood the tears that had suddenly appeared in her eyes. They were ones she could not explain away, she did not know why she felt like crying, perhaps it was the relief at everything finally happening as it should for once, or perhaps it was the utter shame that she had hidden it for so long. She took a deep breath and looked up at him.

"Listen," she said, awared that he had been watching her display the entire time. There was an odd sort of steeliness in his eyes. Something she had never encountered, something she was sure that his business clients must. After all, his suit, perfectly color coordinated seemed like one for giants, it seemed odd on him, but after remembering the general unfriendliness of his apartment, she did not press her thoughts any further on that matter.

"Listen," she worded again, "I hope—"

"I'm here to see Georgiana," said George, somewhat coldly. What seemed like initial warmness had cooled down to a lukewarm temperature, him finding his initial anger towards her for everything that had transpired.

"Yeah," said Hermione understanding. She made her way back to the family room, moving away from the momentary protection that the bar had to offer her. She hugged her wrap more tightly around her body, and felt the pins in her hair pressing into her scalp. She felt uncomfortable, but after all? What else was to be expected? She sat down on the sofa across from him.

"I told her about her being a witch last night," said Hermione, "So you can talk to her about pretty much anything," she said. George made a slight nod. "Is there anything I can tell you about her? To fill you in on her life up until now?" She asked.

"When did she start to walk?" He asked.

"She started to walk at around six months, she was pretty early with anything, always heading for trouble," said Hermione, "she pretty much said full sentences by age two and a half, and she could read giant cardboard books at four." She said. George smiled a little.

"How is she doing at school?" He asked.

"She is a genius, but she is lazy," said Hermione, "When she just puts in about ten percent of her effort, she manages to easily soar to the top of her class, but she spends most of her time coming up with practical jokes and how to goof off. I think she's bored.

"Right now she's at a local public school, but I have her on the waiting list for the Chesterton Academy, which I was going to enroll her in for her sixth grade. But now as she knows about our—" she stopped for a second, "—your world," she corrected herself, "She could start at Hogwarts or the Salem Institute next year, so we could discuss that I guess, if you wanted to." She trailed off and stared around her feet. George nodded curtly.

"Okay," he said.

"I'm so sorry," said Hermione.

"Hermione," he said, "Not now." he said matter-of-factly. Hermione nodded in understanding.

"Fair enough," she said feeling tears well up. Taking a deep breath, she managed to compose herself.

"Is there anything else I need to know before I meet her?" George asked. Hermione shook her head.

"I'll go call her," she said. George nodded.

George felt his hands shake slightly as he gripped the teddy bear; he placed the gift basket full of chocolates on the floor beside his feet. He had opted for the muggle candies at this point, as he knew that perhaps the best way to introduce himself would not be with a canary cream. He chuckled a little at the thought of Hermione's face if he had even attempted to pull that off. Of course, the canary cream would be for Hermione, no way would he turn his daughter into a little yellow bird. _Daughter, _that was a weird thought.

Two days ago he was a businessman, ruthless was an adjective used to describe his style, dedicated, but father was not a word he ever thought would be used. _Wait until Adam hears about this, _he thought to himself. He sighed and then heard a door creak open and he saw Georgiana for the first time. His heart began to rush faster and faster as she took the few small steps it would take to walk into the room.

The moment she entered the living room, George felt strange. He felt emotions he had never felt before, regret that he had missed a part of her life, and an oddly warm feeling in his heart that he could not quite place.

She looked exactly as she did in her picture, albeit a little older. She had auburn hair, was tall for her age, and had piercing blue eyes. She stared down at the ground, obviously a little shy. He felt his heart somewhere around his throat, and he knelt down to be at eye level with her.

"Hey," he said. She stared up at him.

"Wait you're the sad man!" She exclaimed. George nodded.

"Yep," he said smiling, "that's what it says on my business card. You must be Georgiana," he said.

"Yeah, but everyone calls me Anna," she said quietly.

"You know who I am right?" He asked.

"Yeah, you're my father," she said.

"Yes, I am," he replied. There was an awkward pause. "I got you this teddy bear, the woman at the store said it's what kids like, its been a while since I was a kid. She also said young girls your age love chocolate, so I brought both," said George. Anna grinned.

"Thanks," she said.

"Do you like pizza?" He asked.

"Um, yeah, who doesn't?" She asked.

"Well I've got reservations at this little place nearby, would you like to come with me, and we can get to know each other a little better?" George asked. Anna nodded. He looked up at Hermione for permission and Hermione nodded. Anna turned to Hermione as well who nodded again and Anna broke out into a grin.

"That would be great, let me get my coat," she said, walking back into the hallway to get to her room. Hermione and George were left standing there awkwardly.

"Do you want to come?" George asked. Hermione shook her head.

"I have to do a bunch of dictations all day today, and fill out some case reports, so you two go on ahead," she said. As she finished her sentence, Anna emerged from her room in full winter apparel, and Hermione gave George his overcoat and scarf. She had never realized just how much Anna looked like her dad. She had the same mischievous glint in her eye, the infectious smile, and the familiar Weasley red was more evident in her hair when she stood next to him. After he finished donning his scarf, the two of them began to head out. He turned around and glanced at Hermione.

"What time would you like me to have her back?" He asked.

"Dinner time, so around 7," she said, grinning. "Bye Anna," she waved. Anna waved back with a grin.

"Bye Mom," she said, waving back as the two of them exited the apartment. As soon as they left, she walked slowly over to her bedroom, sat on the bed and then fell back onto it in relief, finally sleeping well for the first time in over eleven years.

George and Anna walked down the street in silence, as both of them had no idea what to do or say next. He turned to look down at her, she came up to his waist and almost skipped while she walked. He smiled a little at her cocky jaunt reminded of afternoons walking around the burrow with Fred while their mother screamed at them at the top of her lungs. She looked up at him and smiled. They walked in silence, and George felt a little jump in his heart when she clutched onto his hand instinctively at the crosswalks. After several blocks, they made it to a small pizza place he liked to visit after work sometimes. They both walked in, and the hostess sat them at a small table by the window.

George helped Anna with her coat, and then hung it on the coat hooks that were attached to the booth they sat at. He then took off his winter apparel, and also hung it over her significantly smaller coat. After placing drink orders, he a water, and she a Shirley Temple, they both sat in silence.

"So, Anna, tell me a little bit about yourself," he said.

"What's there to say?" She asked.

"I don't know, tell me about your life, I guess I just want to get to know you." And with that George listened to her describe everything. About how she grew up and no matter how busy Hermione was, she made sure Anna was receiving the best of everything. About how caring her great grandmother and grandmother were, and then about how after her great-grandmother passed away, her mother hired Emma, an au pair from Paris who was studying in the USA. She talked about how close she is with her mother and Emma and how loving their life had been for the past ten years. She had never wanted for anything and was now very grateful for the things she had. As they finished lunch, they realized that it was not enough time, so her took her to a small ice cream shop nearby where they talked some more.

"And then I decided to give her the best birthday gift ever to get back at her," she said, referring to a friend who had wronged her.

"And that's where you played the prank with the snake in a can…wow, and at only 7 years old," said George, feeling a slight bit of pride in his chest. As he stared at her, he noticed the light he had last seen in Fred's eyes. The gleam of mischief, yet the self control and the intelligence to know when to perfectly execute this kind of stuff.

"So tell me about you," said Anna, "I just gave you my life story."

"I don't know how much your mum has told you about me," said George.

"She said you had a twin brother, and you come from a huge family," Anna recited from memory. And then she caught her mistake, the one thing her mother told her not to bring up. George smiled. Oddly, he admired her candor and her easygoing nature.

"That's pretty much it," he said. "I should probably take you home soon," he said noticing the dusk beginning to fall. "Your mother must be getting worried."

They both walked home in silence, George was unsure about this whole thing. Everything was happening so quickly, and he found himself enjoying himself for the first time, really moving on. Yet, Anna represented his future, and he did not know if he could even look towards a future, as he was so trapped in his past. He sighed and stared down at her. She clutched onto his hand at each and every intersection, yet, she had a tendency to want to go before the little white man came up, before the lights had changed, always giggling when he pulled her back. He wanted to laugh alongside her, but it had been so long since he had, he was afraid it would actually hurt too much to laugh.

They finally reached Hermione's apartment, and Anna rushed into her mom's arms before saying a quick goodnight. She stared back at her parents and smiled…_parents; _it was a nice word to think. She had been excited when her mum started dating Ryan, but she did not know if he was ever right for her. Like most of her boyfriends, he just did not have the intelligence that her mother needed. She smiled and headed into Emma's room.

"Bonjour Emma," she said happily as Emma's head was buried in her books.

"Bonjour Madamoiselle," said Emma, "ça va?"

"Ça va bien! Et vous?"

"Good," said Emma smiling, "You're remembering your French! Now, are you ready for bed?" She asked. Anna nodded.

"I'll take care of myself, just wanted to say hi!" She exclaimed as Emma gave her a tight hug, lifted her up in the air, and then set her back down.

Hermione and George sat down in the family room, George clutching a small mug of coffee, Hermione also clutching a mug of coffee. They both sipped.

"So what's your day been like?" He asked.

"My one off day a week, and I spend the whole day doing patient charts and dictations," she said, pointing to the large pile of manila folders resting on the coffee table.

"All work and no play?" George asked grinning a little.

"Sadly, I'm a very dull boy," said Hermione, smiling.

"Nice, got the reference," he said.

"Well you're the last one that I'd expect to make a muggle film reference, and I'm a muggle…so there," she said.

"Muggle born," he corrected.

"Yeah," said Hermione sadly. "How was your day?" She asked, attempting to throw the both of them into a cheerier mood.

"Great, Anna's great, you—she's—I think," he said.

"And really, there's no pressure on you," said Hermione, placing her small hand on his knee. He looked up at her.

"What?" He asked.

"You can be as involved as you want, I know I sort of sprung this on you and this is rather fast, but in all honesty, how involved you want to be depends entirely on you," she said.

"It is fast," said George, placing his hand on top of hers. They both shuddered for a moment as a small spark ran between their hands. As soon as it did, they both laughed hesitantly for a bit.

"What I'm saying is," he continued, "Although it is fast, not being involved for me is not an option. I grew up with the love of two parents, and I couldn't imagine giving someone who is my flesh and blood any different," he said. Hermione realized the folly in her past actions, and felt guilt bubble up in her even more.

"George," she began.

"What?" He asked.

"Can you ever forgive me?" She asked, tears in her eyes. She felt the familiar sad lump forming in her throat and she looked at him pleadingly. He shook his head and looked down on the rug.

"I don't know Hermione," he said, he stared straight into her eyes, "I mean, being upset with you is not an option, as well, holding a grudge just wouldn't be smart at the moment. But do I forgive you? I guess I do, you've taken care of her so well over the past ten years. Despite being young, you've given her a beautiful and loving life, and she seems like she is a very good, albeit a little mischievous, child," he said with a laugh. "But can I ever trust you again? That I'd have to think about."

"Fair enough," said Hermione. He nodded.

"I would love to see her again, though." He said. Hermione smiled.

"Well she's back in school for another three weeks or so, and then its winter vacation, so any weekend, just let me know and come on by and you can spend as much time with her as you want. I just want to make sure she's doing all of her schoolwork," said Hermione with a grin. George nodded, standing up and heading over to the coat closet.

"Thank you," he said, "for everything that you've done. Not everyone has the courage that you do, nor do they have the maturity at such a young age to take on such tremendous responsibility," he smiled. Hermione cocked her head to the side.

"When did you get so mature?" She asked. George shrugged as he hung his scarf from the back of his neck.

"I don't know," he said with a grim expression, "I guess I just realized that everyone around me had grown up, and that I needed to be my own man."

"What does that even mean?" Hermione asked.

"It was just the only option," said George. Hermione opened the door for him, and he walked out into the hallway. He exited the apartment and then walked down the steps of the brownstone and looked up into the sky as a few flakes of snow began to fall upon the dark pavement.

"Great," he said to himself, "Just bloody great."

As the weeks went by before Christmas rolled around, George started reviewing more and more the sale techniques and the overall prices that he could approve or disapprove. The toys were beginning to sell a lot faster now as the bottoms of trees had to now be filled with wrapped boxes. He started a gift-wrapping service, done entirely by freed house elves, they were paid and people were delighted to get their presents from actual elves. He had been going over to Hermione's up to three times a week.

This timing was perfect as their nanny had final exams to get to and was busy all the time studying, so George would take the day off fairly early, pick Anna up from school and spend the rest of they day with her a few times a week so that Emma could study.

"Race you to the door," said Anna one day as they were both walking home. He was holding a cup of coffee, and she was drinking some hot chocolate.

"Oh, you're on," he said; throwing his disposable cup into the trash-can he passed.

"Eat my dust," said Anna doing the same, and then taking off down the block. George shook his head and ran, following her closely.

"I'm going to beat you," he exclaimed. They both irked the people walking by, shouting clichéd phrases such as:

"Well excuse you!" and "Excuse _me!" _

But they did not really care about that. They were both wrapped up in their own little world. George felt himself reliving his childhood once more through her, he saw a lot of Hermione in her looks, but behavior, somehow mysteriously that belonged to him. In fact, with her mother's intelligence and his penchant of breaking the rules, she was actually closer to—his twin brother. He stopped in his tracks as she scampered up the steps.

"Hurry up!" She exclaimed, "You're losing!"

"I'm old!" George complained pointing to his hip, "I'm falling apart." Anna rolled her eyes and placed her hand on her hips as she sighed. She pulled a house key out of her pocket, tapped the magnetic key to the reader on the side.

The lights were completely out in the apartment as they walked inside, he spotted a still form lying on the couch, white lab coat still on. He smiled as Anna knelt by her mum.

"Mom, we're home," she said whispering into Hermione's ear. Hermione cracked her eyes open and sat up.

"Hey," she said to George. George smiled.

"Hey," he said.

"Did you guys have fun?" She asked. Anna nodded.

"Yeah, we went to Rockefeller Center and ice skated for a bit and then got coffee," said Anna.

"Coffee?" Hermione asked raising her eyebrows and shooting a pointed look towards George.

"Anna," he said warningly.

"Fine, _he_ had coffee, I had hot chocolate, but seriously mom, it would _not_ be a big deal if I had coffee," she said precociously. Hermione raised her eyebrow and looked at Anna sternly. Anna smiled.

"Well I'm off to bed, goodnight mom," she said kissing her mom on the cheek. She looked over at George, "Good night dad," she said hugging him tightly. George's expression suddenly changed from slightly smirking to pensive and thoughtful, she had never called him dad before, she usually stayed away from anything that directly named him. He smiled and hugged her back, lifting her up in the air quickly. Anna giggled and then ran into her room.

"Dad," said Hermione with a slight smirk.

"Yup," said George, "So I'm guessing she likes me." He said with a smile. Hermione nodded.

"I'm guessing she does," she said. "Can I get you something to drink?" She asked, "I mean I know you just had coffee, but I can brew up some tea?" She rubbed her eyes.

"No, I didn't mean to wake you, plus you look really tired so if you're going to go to bed soon…"

"I still have like four more dictations to do," she said, "Plus, I'm applying for a cardiothoracic fellowship next year, so I have to write a bunch of essays as to why _I'm _the perfect candidate," she said, "So I'm probably never going to sleep…but I'd love it if you'd stay and help me procrastinate."

"Wow," said George, "And I thought I had it tough." He smiled.

They both ended up chatting for hours, Hermione was finally unencumbered by secrets and tiptoeing around lines, and George finally began to crack a smile, his tired face showing a positive emotion for a change. After coffee they switched to wine, and pretty soon were just cracking up hysterically. They realized it was late and George silently cast a muffliato charm, so that they could talk more into the night.

"So Lavender and Adam? And Parvati and Ron? Wow, Harry and Ginny seem to be the only people who are still with who we thought they'd be with eleven years ago," said Hermione, now drinking her third glass. George sat on the floor, by the coffee table and he poured more wine into his glass.

"Yeah, hillarourous," he said slurring his speech, "hilla…I can't talk!" He exclaimed. Hermione began to giggle. And then her giggles broke out into laughs as she lay back on the couch.

"And I'm a muggle!" She exclaimed, "Who woulda thunk," she said.

"Thunk?" George asked.

"It's an expression," Hermione said moving down to sit on the floor beside him.

"How did we get here?" George asked, staring at the small Christmas tree in the corner. Hermione shrugged.

"I don't know," she said.

"Why'd you run away?" He asked. She stared at him, realizing they hadn't actually had this conversation yet.

"I told you," she said, staring down at her knees, "I didn't want to get in the way of you and Ron."

"Bollocks," he said, "You were like, the closest friend our family had besides Harry, both of us would have found a way to work it out. Maybe Ron would have been mad, but he'd always make up with you, you know him, he cared about you outside of the relationship." George said. He picked up the bottle of wine and tried to pour more into his glass, a little bit poured in, and then a few drops trickled out. He looked disappointed.

"I guess I was also afraid to admit—never mind," said Hermione.

"Admit what?" George asked, turning towards her. She stared down at her legs.

"Nothing," she said.

"Herminone," he began, and then scrunched his eyebrows, "Her-mi-ow-niney," he worded out, "Hermione," he finally said settling on the right one. "This may be our third or fourth bottle, but I'm not afraid to pull out more if it makes you less scared to tell me the truth!" He exclaimed. Hermione smiled.

"I guess I was scared at how much I liked you," she blurted out.

"Wow," said George. "You liked me?" He asked.

"Yeah, but that was all in the past," Hermione corrected. She automatically kicked herself for thinking that.

"Oh," said George. He glanced over at the digital clock that now read 3:45 am.

"Wow," said Hermione, "It's really late."

"Yeah, I should probably get home," said George.

"Yeah, you should." She said. "Unless you just want to camp out on the sofa bed, I mean I don't mind, and you shouldn't walk home. And tomorrow's Saturday, we can get breakfast if you want to. I'm pretty much off this week," said Hermione.

"That would be great, since I currently don't know which way home is," George said. Hermione laughed.

"Let me run and grab you some sheets," said Hermione. George nodded. Hermione came back a few seconds later, arms full with all of her sheets and things, and she moved the coffee table aside. She then pulled the cushions aside and revealed where to pull to bring out the bed part of the sofa-bed. She tried pulling several times, but alas, it did not budge, so she employed the help of George. They both stumbled around as they both attempted to pull out the bed that was underneath. Finally, with one last tug, the bed came out and they both fell on top of it in a heap, George on top of Hermione.

He stared down into her eyes, and she stared back into his. For a few moments, the lines that had developed on their faces erased, and they were back to ten years ago, moments in the lake house coming back to them, and he leaned in to kiss her.

(A/N) OH NO! Yeah sorry it's been so long, life is busy and all that shpiel, only like two or three more chapters left, and then an epilogue. Thanks for bearing with me! 3 I love you allllllll, please review.


	14. The One With the Grown Ups

As his lips descended down on hers in slow motion, Hermione began to realize what was happening. As a result of the both of their drunkenness, they were about to make a huge mistake. She knew in her mind that both would regret this in the morning, and there was no use complicating their already twisted relationship, no matter how much she actually wanted to kiss the ginger haired man. She quickly sat up and he followed her lead, sitting behind her and laughing a little bit at what could have just happened.

"Sorry," he said, "Wine always gets me." He laughed. She chuckled a little as well and stared down at her knees.

"Well it's late," she said softly, "I should go to bed. But hey, knock on my door if you need me." She said. She softly leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. George nodded.

"Hermione," he said softly. She turned around and looked at him.

"Good night George." She turned around and walked back towards her bedroom as he lay back into the mattress groaning in frustration.

The next morning resulted in a headache between the two of them. Anna was up early and witnessed both her mother and father lying in bed with the hangover of their lifetimes.

"Mom…" she said walking into her mother's bedroom, "Are you okay?" She asked. Hermione groaned.

"Yeah sweetie, I'm fine, Mom just has a headache," she said grimacing.

"Hangover?" She asked sitting down on the bed by her mom. Hermione turned to her and raised her eyebrow.

"Darling," she said, "You're not supposed to know about it." Anna stared down at the ground.

"Well what do you expect? My best friend at school is a WASP," she said laughing. Hermione laughed a little too.

"Okay, lets go to the kitchen and make some coffee," she said, "but your Dad stayed over, so he's probably asleep."

"He did?" Anna asked happily.

"He did," Hermione said with a tone of finality. Anna knew not to say more at the moment as she followed her mother into the kitchen. George was already dressed and had re-folded the bed so that it was a sofa again. The sheets were folded crisply in the corner, and he sat down reading the newspaper.

"Good morning sunshine," said Hermione with a grin she could barely hide at the fact that he had stayed.

"Good morning." He said somewhat cheerily as he continued reading the paper.

"Hi Dad," said Anna sitting beside him. George patted her on the head and kissed her forehead, a gesture he had seen his father do with Ginny many times. For some reason, this felt right, he thought. For the first time in his life, he did not feel he had to work to build this relationship. George had lived all of his life building clients and making sure his company kept them, especially as they grew from a joke company to a toy store, and then just children's goods and apparel all in one. They were aiming for furniture next, and George reckoned that they would sell everything in the world when April Fools was done. But this he didn't have to work with, reading the paper while his daughter was in his arms. There was only one way he could have felt more genuinely happy. And she was in the kitchen making coffee.

"Do you want some?" Hermione asked calling out from the kitchen.

"Nah, never drink the muggle stuff," said George, "although Greybeards are starting to open up in the Magic District," he said, referring to a wizarding coffee chain that was popular back in London.

"Oh are they?" Hermione asked. George nodded.

"Is muggle a bad word?" Anna asked. George stared down at her.

"No it isn't," he said.

"Mommy, I have ballet today," said Anna after a while, "We're doing final dress rehearsals for the Nutcracker so I have to go." Hermione put her hand on her forehead.

"Oh crap," she said standing up quickly and hitting her head on an open cabinet. George immediately stood up and went over to her laughing.

"Are you okay?" He asked as she clasped her head.

"Peachy," she replied sarcastically. He put his arm around her shoulder and sat her down on a kitchen chair. He checked her head.

"There'll probably be some swelling, but I think you're okay. How many fingers am I holding up?" He said holding up 4 fingers in her peripheral vision.

"92," Hermione answered dryly.

"No, seriously," said George.

"I'm a doctor, I think I would know when I would get a concussion," she said.

"I was a beater in Quidditch, I think I know what a pretty hard knock to your head can do, now answer my question," he said.

"Four," she said.

"Good."

Anna would have normally come to her mother's aid, but she watched the scene from the living room hoping and praying that her non-interference could lead to reconciliation. She picked up the newspaper and flipped to the Saturday comics and began to read intently looking up and seeing her mom and George made her very happy. After a while she looked up at the clock.

"Moom," she moaned, "I have to leave soon, can we get some breakfast anytime soon?" She asked playfully.

"Why don't we go out for breakfast?" said George, "Where is your dance class, we'll eat somewhere near there and both of us can drop you off." Hermione looked over at him in shock.

"Yeah," she said, "Both of us." Anna could not have been happier if Santa climbed down the chimney right there and gave her several bags of toys.

As they walked down the familiar streets to reach her studio, bundled up in coats, careful not to slip on any black ice, the three of them talked about everything. George was shocked at how natural this all felt. After years of artificiality, he was scared that nothing was real, that his emotions had been stripped away. But now he felt it all coming back to him. He thought about everything he had and he found his life lacking, he made it in the business world, but he had no life, no one to come home to. After a sea of meaningless one night stands, he realized they were not going to fill his empty life, but for the first time he felt his life filling up.

Maybe Hermione didn't do the most mature thing, but she confessed and took responsibility; which is more than he could say for most people. He had people who worked for him that would commit faults but claim it was never their faults. He scoffed at those people. She knew she did something wrong and instead of providing excuses provided reasons.

Maybe he could forgive her, he thought, maybe they didn't belong together back then. Maybe both of them needed to grow up. Real life had taught George many valuable lessons. Being in the real world, being someone he swore he never wanted to be gave him a new perspective on life. As his hand swung freely, he felt Anna put her little hand into his, as she walked hand in hand with both Hermione and him. A small spark jumped into his heart as he realized how much he needed this. He needed it more than anything and he was excited that she was in his life. The ease in which this happened also astounded him, although he did not forgive her for withholding such information, he felt that they had an understanding. And he could come close to forgiving her again, with time. Although, the speed at which things already seemed to be moving, time did not seem to be an issue. He looked over at her. He remembered being fond of her rather bushy hairstyle, but noticed she had straightened it out. She paid much more attention to makeup and seemed to be focused on how she looked as well as acted.

He also realized how hard it must have been, bringing up a daughter alone in New York without the help of magic, without the love and support of another person in her daughter's life. He felt a short squeeze at his hand as his daughter—he smirked a bit as he tried to get used to saying that word—pulled him back into reality.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," he replied.

"What are you thinking?" She asked as Hermione stepped back from both of them to answer a page. They both stopped and waited as she called the hospital.

"Nothing," George said. He quickly changed the subject, "So what's this ballet about a kitchen utensil? My mum would love it," he admitted, partially to himself. Anna giggled.

"Noooo," she said laughing, "It's about one of those Christmas dolls that look like little soldiers but crack nuts. And it comes to life, and it's the story of that." She said excitedly.

"Oh that sounds interesting," said George.

"I get to be Clara this year," she said. At George's expression she looked up at him, "She's one of the main characters. One day I want to be the Sugar Plum Fairy," she said. "She gets the best dances."

"Well then I have to come," said George, "I mean, I'm definitely going to be there." He said. Anna laughed.

"Yay!" She exclaimed, hugging him tightly. He hugged her back. Hermione joined them a few seconds later.

"Sorry, my interns are absolutely struggling without me." She said. "They actually call for permission. Sometimes I wonder if they actually went to medical school," She said.

"Are they going to be fine without you?" George asked. Hermione nodded.

"Yeah, they should be," she said, "But if they call again, I'll stop by and see what's going on."

"Don't you ever get days off?" Anna asked. Hermione laughed.

"I wish, unfortunately, people will always be sick." She said.

The three of them resumed walking, and they stopped in front of a small café and walked in, ready to eat. They chatted about random things. The subject changed, resulting in conversations about everything, favorite food, clothes, and the subject of movies was even touched upon. The topic switched to reading, and of course, both Anna and Hermione loved books.

"Why am I not surprised?" George asked with a laugh.

"Don't you like reading?" Anna asked George as they crossed the final block.

"I used to," said George, sadly. Hermione glanced over at him and cocked her head. He shook his softly, smiling a little as he did.

"I have to go soon," said Anna checking her phone. George nodded and lifted his hand up signaling the waiter to bring the check. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Hermione pulling her purse out and beginning to search for her wallet. He promptly put his hand on top of hers and said, "Don't." Hermione smiled a little and looked at him.

"What?" She asked.

"Let me get it," he said, placing his hand on top of hers in a way that caused her breath to get hitched in her throat. The few seconds she took to compose herself, he made the payment. She took a deep breath as her cell phone began to vibrate. She picked it up.

"Yes?" She said irritated, "No, you cannot do that procedure on a diabetic, did you even go—" she saw Anna's eyes glance over at her, obviously interested in what she was about to say. She smiled a little, "Just a minute," she said over the phone. She held her hand to the speaker and then looked at George and Anna, "I'll be right outside," she said, stepping out of the booth and placing her coat on at the same time. Anna turned to George and sighed.

"She's so stressed out all the time," she complained. George nodded.

"She's always been like that," he said.

"Really? Oh yeah, you went to school with her," Anna said. George nodded as he helped Anna put her coat on.

"Yep," said George, smiling, reminiscing about Hogwarts.

"Any good stories?" She asked.

"About your mum? Well, she was pretty much looking after all of us when we were in school. She usually took it upon herself to keep my brother and me in line. She tried to give up, but somehow she didn't see us as a lost cause," said George with a laugh. Anna smiled.

"Yeah, I thought she did that only because she's my mom," said Anna.

"That too," said George, "You should listen to her. She does know best." He added almost as an afterthought. They soon walked outside and Hermione was standing there having an animated conversation. She hung up the phone and looked obviously upset.

"I'll take her to dance practice," George said before she even asked. Her eyes lit up.

"Thank you so much," she said, "You are an angel." She threw her arms around George excitedly, and then she knelt down eye level with Anna. "Be good now," she said and hugged her. Anna nodded.

"What time should I pick her up?" George asked.

"Oh you don't have to, I'm spending the night at Grace's tonight," said Anna. George looked at Hermione who nodded approvingly. He smiled.

"So which way to your dance class?" He asked. Anna began to walk and he followed while a grateful Hermione mouthed 'thank you' in his direction. She sighed and raised her arm, waiting to see if she could hail a cab to get to the hospital as soon as possible. She was upset that her day could start off so well, and take such a downward turn almost immediately.

She made it to the hospital in time, and saw her interns who all looked scared and confused. In each of them she saw a mini Harry or Ron. Her chest began to hurt as she thought of them, she felt tight and a small lump growing at her throat at the thought that maybe just maybe, she'd be able to see them again. And just as quickly as the happy feeling came, it went at the sight of the first intern crying that they had no idea what was going on. She took a calming breath, took their charts and headed to the locker room to change into scrubs.

The day shifted from fast pace to rather average. She resented medical dramas, actually, for portraying a doctor's day as more exciting than it really was. Large scale car crashes usually didn't happen, and instead they ended up with a whole slew of people complaining about illnesses that mysteriously match everything going on in the news. After finally finishing her rounds of patients, it was beginning to darken outside. Although, it was still relatively early, but as it was the winter months, even five o' clock seemed later than usual. She was finally dressed into her street clothes and heading out, when she noticed a familiar ginger sitting in the waiting room holding two cups of coffee.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, not even bothering to mask how happy she was to see him. He smiled.

"I called and asked when you would be off, and they said that you would be off anywhere from an hour ago to an hour later from now, so in terms of timing, you're right in the middle." He laughed.

"You've been waiting an hour?" She asked.

"Yeah, but I've been doing some work in the lobby so I got some of my final advertising campaigns approved." He said.

"That's good." She said. "But you didn't answer my first question."

He raised his eyebrow.

"What are you doing here?" She asked again.

"Oh," said George pausing as she took the cardboard cup from his hand. "I think we need to talk." He said.

"There's nothing to talk about," said Hermione.

"Oh I think there's a lot to talk about," said George. She closed her eyes and stared down at the ground.

"I guess you're right. Well, Emma is studying, I don't want to disturb her—"

"I live two blocks from here," said George. Hermione nodded. They both stepped out into the chilly air of New York. George raised his hand and a cab came to stop almost immediately in front of him. Hermione felt butterflies—no, butterflies would be too gentle a word—she felt bats flying around in her stomach. She did not know what to expect, neither did she know what he wanted to talk about. They had devised a pretty good system so that he could stay in Anna's life, and Hermione had no objections if he wanted to be even more involved. They entered the apartment, and were silent the whole way up.

"Do you want something else to drink? Water? Soda? Butterbeer? Firewhiskey?"

"I'd love a butterbeer," Hermione said, sitting down on his couch.

"Comin' right up," said George, forcing out an American accent. Hermione giggled. He came back with two bottles of butterbeer that he had just opened, and he handed her one.

"Thanks," she said. "Haven't had one of this in a while."

George turned to her and said, "Me neither actually, luckily its magic so no expiration," he laughed. Hermione joined him while she took a swig. She felt the familiar warmth and comfort growing into her, and she sighed. He sat down on the couch and faced her, staring straight into her eyes.

"About last night," said George after a while. Hermione closed her eyes.

"Yeah," she said.

"I would be lying if I said I didn't think of you constantly since that night in the lake house," he said. He wanted to reach out to her, to touch her knee, her hand, her face. He wanted to kiss her like there was no tomorrow and keep her in his arms forever, but he knew that in order for them to have any chance or to be realistic they needed to talk this out.

"I've thought about that night too George," said Hermione.

"And last night," continued George, "Sure I may have seemed really drunk, and perhaps my actions were reprehensible by nature, but I knew what I was doing," he said. "Had you not come to your senses, I would have gone through with it," he added, somewhat sheepishly. Hermione smiled.

"Had I not come to my senses, I would have enjoyed it," she said carefully, "But I didn't want to complicate things further. I still don't know whether or not you've forgiven me," she stated, as honestly as she could bear. George stared at her legs and noticed she was nervously tapping her foot, he looked at her face, she had averted her eyes and was now biting her lip. Almost not believing she had said what she had just said. He placed a reassuring hand on her leg and she placed hers tentatively on top. She could feel his hand shaking as well as hers.

"What happened, happened. Maybe I wasn't ready to have a child then, maybe we both weren't. I wish you would have told me, but what's done is done and no amount of sulking I do can change that." George said. Hermione looked up at him, confused and shocked at his maturity. Her mouth opened and closed as if she were to say something but nothing was coming out.

"I'm not Ron," said George, "I don't hold grudges, always thought I was above that. And I still am. Yes, I would be lying if I said I wasn't slightly upset or angry, but you have given me a few weeks, and there's nothing to forgive." He said, a small hint of happiness coming into his eyes. As he said this, Hermione suddenly fell back into tears, she began to sob harder than she ever had before, hyperventilating as she did, not being able to catch her breath. She did not know why she was doing it, but knew that she had to. She felt George wrap his arms around her.

"There there," he said softly, "Why are you crying?" He asked.

"I—don't—know," Hermione sobbed, "It's—like, all of this time—I've had pressure," she sobbed, "and now that it's lifted, all I can do is cry," she said quickly and then resumed sobbing once more. George rubbed her back comfortingly and hugged her even more tightly, something he had longed to do over the past twenty years. As her sobbing subsided, she began to pull away, and he smiled, wiping away some of her tears with his thumb. She smiled back.

"I'm so sorry," she said again. George handed her a handkerchief and she gladly accepted it.

"You're fine," he said, placing his hand on top of hers. "You were young, you made a decision, and you faced the odds remarkably." He said.

"You've changed," said Hermione. He shook his head.

"I guess I have, but I'm still me," said George. "Life has changed both of us, and I imagine it is for the better," he said holding onto her hand, interlacing his fingers with her. For the first time ever, they were staring straight into each other's eyes, longing to be closer. For the first time, there was no barrier between them, and somehow they felt themselves drawn to each other.

Hermione felt her heart thumping, and she felt her pulse quicken as George gripped her hands more tightly with his. They were moving towards each other, but somehow it felt like an eternity, yet no time at all. As soon as she closed her eyes, she felt his warm breath coming closer to her face, his lips almost touching hers. Soon enough their lips collided with each other in a passionate embrace. They were both hungry, aching for more.

She did not know how long they were there on the couch, she felt everything pass in a haze as his lips moved down to her neck and she leaned back, resting her head on the arm of the sofa. She felt him move up and down her body, his hand gripping her sweater, trying to pull it off. Before she knew it, her fingers were undoing his buttons. Everything felt so natural to her. Being with him felt easy, like it was meant to be. Suddenly he pulled back, and she opened her eyes to look at him.

"What?" She asked, a hint of disappointment in her breathless voice.

"If I start, I won't be able to stop," admitted George. Hermione sat up and joined him on the couch. She looked down at her feet for a moment, and sat up, walking towards his hallway towards where she thought his bedroom was. He followed her, confusion evident in his eyes.

"Which way to your bedroom?" She asked, a seductive glint appearing in her eye. George's eyebrows were raised. She looked up towards him and smiled and he walked quickly over to her and pushed her against the wall.

"Who says we have to go to the bedroom," he said, caressing her face. She stared up at him and grinned, almost challenging him as he leaned down to kiss her again. He relished everything about this moment, holding her petite body against him again was the best thing he could have had.

Hours later they were both lying on the floor beside his bed wrapped in sheets, holding each other. She had her face buried in his chest while he held her, playing with her hair.

"Why do you straighten it?" He asked after a while. She shrugged.

"I felt like I was too tall sometimes, so I decided to get few inches shorter," she laughed. He laughed alongside her. He kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back. The moon shone through his window, one or two stars shone sparingly in the sky. They spoke sparingly, an idle comment thrown about here or there. They were linked by one common thing, and felt an even stronger bond than the one from ten years ago. Being with her, George finally felt a sense of fulfillment he had only felt when they were having their affair.

"My office is having a Christmas party this Friday," said George after a while of silence.

"Oh?" Asked Hermione, unsure of what to say.

"Will you come with me?" He asked. She looked up at him and smiled.

"I would love to," she said happily. He grinned and kissed her deeply. Finally things were starting to look up.

(A/N) Sorry it's taking me sooo long, but your reviews are each so wonderful that I just want to make sure every chapter is worthwhile :-)

Please, I live for your reviews, so review! Also, I actually have two chapters left and an epilogue, so its not as short as y'all thought! :D


	15. The One With Family

"Hey," said Hermione sitting up in bed and staring at George, happiness evident in her eyes.

"Hey," he said softly waking up, noticing she was wrapped in his sheets. He spread his arm out and pulled her down so that she was lying against his body. Warmth radiated from her body to his, his ice cold heart finally beginning to warm up again. "Did you sleep well?" He queried, rubbing her elbow with his thumb. She sighed and nodded in response.

"I should brush my teeth," she said softly.

"What time is it?" He asked.

"Early," she said, "7."

"Bloody hell, why are you up?" He asked.

"I'm always up at 6:30," she said.

"How long have you been up, really?"

"Three hours," she said. He sat up and leaned against the headboard, as she sat up with him. He pulled her close to his chest and she leaned back into him again.

"Three hours," He asked. "Seriously?"

"Yep."

"And you've been staring at me for that long—well I guess that's believable," George winked. Hermione punched his chest lightly and laughed. She stood up and took the sheet with her as she did.

"You don't have to," said George with a mischievous grin. Hermione turned around and raised her eyebrow.

"I don't have to what?" She asked. George folded his arms over his chest and smirked.

"I mean its not like I haven't seen everything," he said, sitting up in the bed, hugging the covers left closer to himself.

"It's cold," she pouted, and proceeded to head towards the door she thought was his bathroom. It opened to reveal his closet. She turned around and looked at him.

"Bathroom?" She asked. He was in the midst of choking of laughter, his head buried in his comforter as he pointed to the other side of the room. She turned her nose up and walked into his bedroom confidently. He laughed and got out of bed, pulling his boxers up as he did. He then went into his closet, pulled out a bathrobe and headed towards where Hermione was standing.

"Here," he said, "It's probably long, but it's cold and those sheets are pretty flimsy." He smiled. Hermione tried to give him a glare, but she couldn't help but grin a little bit.

"Thanks," she said. "Turn around." George stared at her incredulously.

"Seriously?" He asked. She nodded. He rolled his eyes and turned his back to her. Hoping to catch her re—

"And away from the mirror," she added, moving him towards the door of the bathroom so he couldn't see anything.

"Are you quite serious?" He asked.

"Quite," she replied, pulling her arms through the robe and wrapping the rope tightly around her waist. She walked up behind him and turned him around, and wrapped her arms around his waist. She looked him straight in the eyes and he had both eyes closed.

"What are you doing?" She asked him.

"You didn't tell me if I can look," said George.

"You can look," she said grinning. He opened his eyes and his hazel stared down at her coffee brown.

"Hey," he said softly.

"Hey," she replied.

"How are you?" She asked.

"Bloody fantastic," said George, smiling as he stared into her eyes. He rubbed her cheek softly with the back of his hand, and then moved it down to her chin where he lifted it up to capture her lips in a very soft kiss. She placed her hands in his hair and deepened the kiss wanting more, feeling butterflies in her stomach flutter higher and higher, lifting the both of them up into the clouds.

"George," Hermione whispered after a few blissful moments.

"Yes?" He asked, drawing her into her arms so her head lay on his chest.

"Can I have a toothbrush?" She asked. George leaned down and kissed the top of his head. He leaned down and opened one of his drawers and handed her an unopened toothbrush. At her hesitation, he realized how it looked, for him to keep a drawer full of toothbrushes.

"You don't have to explain," said Hermione opening the pack and furiously brushing her teeth. George noticed a change in her demeanor and sighed inwardly. His onslaught of women only led him to keep this drawer so that he could at least seem like the gentleman type, but unfortunately brought hints of the person he had become rather than the person that he was, and wanted to be once more. In love.

He exited the bathroom and headed to his closet where he put on some clothes and then went to the kitchen, intent on at least making some breakfast, so that he wouldn't seem so callous. Around ten minutes later when he had a pancake cooking on the stove, and a stack by his side. Hermione came in wearing her clothes from the previous night, but she looked freshly showered. She placed the pager on her belt and looked over at George who smiled at her. He pointed through the kitchen window at a barstool. She sat down and placed her elbows on the barstool leaning forward watching him cook.

"You can do that?" She asked. He smiled and looked up as he flipped a pancake over artfully and it did several rotations in the air before he caught it on a plate.

"I try," he said, handing her a plate. "How do you like your eggs?" He asked, cracking one into a bowl and beginning to stir furiously.

"I'll have what you're having," she said. He smiled and cracked another egg into his bowl and began to stir even more furiously.

"You know you can use magic," she said.

"Just because I'm allowed to use my magic, I don't have to whip out my want for every tiny little thing," he said pouring one half of the mixed eggs into the frying pan, "Even if it saves a bit of time," he winked. Hermione smiled, and then began to laugh as she remembered the night Molly Weasley had used the same line on both of the boys. Her laugh turned into a guffaw and pretty soon, she clenched her side as she remembered the sheer ridiculousness of that year. She thought of the swamp and the fireworks, the skiving snackboxes, and most of all, the exit that the two of them had made from school. George watched her completely fall over in fits of hysterics.

"I wasn't aware I was so humorous," he said, "anymore." He added hastily. Hermione shook her head and stood up, laughing even harder and trying to compose herself. George began to giggle, at first out of confusion only.

"That horrid woman," said Hermione, "The hell you drove her through that year." She began to pretty much go into a fit of hysteria as she laughed even harder. George soon joined her as memories of that year came tumbling back to him as well.

"The ban from Quidditch! To teach us a lesson!" George exclaimed after placing her plate in front of her and sitting next to her.

"The educational decrees," said Hermione, placing her hand on his knee to try to sit up straight.

"Some year," said George with a smile. "I'll never forget the sheer exhilaration of getting onto my broomstick and riding away to Diagon Alley." Hermione smiled at him and wiped her tears away with a napkin she pulled out of the napkin canister to her side.

"Do you still think about him?" She asked.

"It's hard not to," said George, his face beginning to show a hint of seriousness, "Merlin, he would have hated me."

"That's not possible," said Hermione.

"Not possible?" George asked, "I'm a suit! The very thing that we both swore on each other's lives we would not become. Yet here I am, a member of corporate America, working on Wall Street. I have a corner office overlooking the Hudson, my own stocked mini-bar, a secretary, people working under me, 40 percent of which I've had to fire. And now I'm being made CEO." George looked down at his plate. "How could Fred like me, if I don't like me?"

"I like you," said Hermione, "I don't think you've changed at all. You're still the same George I knew and loved, the same one whom I still love." She said. George looked up.

"What?" He asked, placing his fork down, noticing Hermione's hand was shaking and she bit her lip in embarrassment. She felt her stomach rise up to her throat as the inevitable hit her suddenly. She'd have to say it, but she'd been holding it in for over ten years.

"If you were really different, you wouldn't have forgiven me as easily. If you were a "suit" you would not have been as proactive in Anna's life as you have been. If you were any different, I don't think I could have so easily fallen back in love with you, or in love with you at all," she said, her breath shaky and her heart beating so fast that she thought she was going to explode. She noticed her fork clattering against the plate as she held it. The clinking of metal to ceramic continued as she waited for a response.

A hand placed itself over hers, keeping it still. She looked down at the plate, afraid to look into the eyes of the man she just admitted her love to. She felt her face grow warm and small tears began to form in her eyes, although she did not remember feeling like crying. She felt a hand under her cheek, lifting it up. Her eyes remained downcast as George lifted her face off. She noticed he was no longer sitting on his barstool but standing up in front of her. She noticed that she was no longer sitting either, somehow she had gone from sitting to standing and then just as quickly fell into his arms as he held onto her tightly, gripping the back of her head. She clung to his waist, as a child clings onto a security blanket, and felt his hands moving through her hair.

Yes, they had been intimate, but this felt more personal, like she was finally giving into him, finally being more honest than she had ever been for herself. She felt her spine tingle as he caressed her back slowly. All they listened to was each other's breathing, taking everything in getting to know everything about each other.

"Hermione," he whispered under his breath as he separated himself slightly from her while still maintaining contact.

"Mm?" She asked, unable to form any sort of coherent reply. Instead relishing in his hold.

"I love you," he said softly. She felt his hands stop as he cupped her cheeks and stared into her eyes. She found herself beginning to cry, her body wracked with sobs that were both violent and sudden. She felt herself crumbling into his arms, seeking strength and comfort, feeling both a sense of belonging and a sense of fear. Fear was soon overwhelmed with regret and she felt herself falling deeper and deeper until she felt his arms grip her tightly pulling her out of the hole she was falling into.

"Why do you cry?" He asked, rubbing her tears away.

"I suppose this is what happiness feels like," she said, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. She looked up at him and noticed a few tears streaming down his face as well. She reached up and wiped his tears away with her hand.

"Why are you crying?" She asked. He merely said nothing but he leaned down and kissed her. This was not a kiss of passion, neither was it a kiss of desire, but it was full of love and gentle and soft. This was not a kiss Hermione had ever been familiar with, in fact, she wished she was standing in a meadow full of flowers with the wind gracefully moving around them and the only sound accompanying this was the rustle of leaves. Unfortunately it was not, they were standing in a high rise apartment in the middle of New York City while the soundtrack they had was the faint sound of honking cars and yelling pedestrians.

She found herself lost in the moment, her senses heightened. Time had halted to a standstill and she felt utter happiness work its way through her body. She had not remembered what it felt like to be in his arms, and now she realized what she had been missing.

"I'm sorry," she said as the two of them lay together on the couch, holding each other and staring into each other's eyes.

"For?" George asked kissing her forehead.

"Everything," Hermione said again.

"Hermione, relax, nothing you say is going to change what happened. And what happened showed me how impossible it is to live without you. Somehow you became a part of me and replaced a lot of the empty wound that was left after Fred died. I realized I needed you more than anything, but I also needed time to become my own person. I needed to be independent so that I could realize how much I needed to be with you out of love and not just necessity."

"I love you," she said. He returned by holding her even more tightly and kissing the top of her head. Moments later, she felt something close to her hip vibrating and she leaned back to pick it up.

"Buzzkill," he commented. Hermione laughed.

"I need to take this," she said apologetically pulling out her phone and stepping away.

"Go to the study," he said, "third door on the left." Hermione nodded thankfully as she made the call. He leaned back on the sofa, his arms outstretched a smile of contentment washing over his face. He thought about his future, what he would do tomorrow and the day after with his life. He realized that he would have to make a decision about work and New York, but he also knew that he wanted to begin the next phase of his life, and this phase would indeed include Hermione.

His musings then worriedly travelled over to Hermione's side of the story. Would she be willing to return to the magical way of life she had grown up with, or would she want to remain in the muggle world she had grown accustomed to? Surely they would make an arrangement, and the most important thing would be that Georgiana was in both of their lives.

He liked the sound of her name, Georgiana. It was quite beautiful and literate while maintaining a certain feel, he thought. There was something intellectual yet sexy about that name. He chuckled a little to himself as Hermione walked back in. She headed directly towards him again and lay down on the couch.

"I asked Emma to pick Anna up, she has a lot of homework to do anyway, and I took the day off from work since they asked me to come in on my day off yesterday. The attendings love me," she admitted, snuggling closer to him. He pulled up a blanket and wrapped both of them around it.

"Georgiana?" He asked softly while playing with her hair, twisting it around his finger contently.

"I read Pride and Prejudice while I was pregnant, and I would read it aloud to the baby because, I was guessing that she would like to read. And every time I mentioned Georgiana Darcy, she kicked or would turn over, and well I guess I always was sympathetic to her character. And there's the obvious," she said holding his hand and lightly stroking his palm. George kissed her softly and held her even more tightly.

"They're making me CEO," he said after a while. "One of the largest corporations in the wizarding world, and I'm going to be running it. Hermione sat down and looked down at him. He sat up as well.

"Wow," she said. "That's, amazing. Congratulations George." George smiled and took her hand in his.

"I'd like so much for you to come to the Christmas party next weekend. They'll announce it there. I mean I know its short notice, but I'll take care of anything you need, it would just really mean a lot to me if you were there to share it with me," he said holding both of her hands in his. Hermione looked up at him with warm honey eyes and he felt his hands start to shake.

"I would love to," she said throwing her arms around his neck tightly. He held her tightly as well holding on for several more moments. He parted from her slowly and moved a piece of her hair from her face to behind her ear and smiled. He brought her face closer to his and kissed her lips gently.

"I should go," said Hermione after a few tender moments of holding each other. "I have some major dictations I have to get done." George rolled his eyes and smiled holding her hand tightly pulling her close to his chest. She kissed his forehead and then got back up laughing as she did.

"I miss that," he said.

"What?" She asked.

"Your laughter."

"I'll send it to you on a tape," Hermione said, "That way you'll never be without it."

"Ha ha," said George standing up and following her as she left his apartment.

"Good bye," said Hermione as she turned around and kissed him. He lifted her up a little and spun her around.

"Good-bye my darling," he said. She finally left the apartment and George shut it softly, leaning back on the door while clutching his chest happily. He knew that this was insanely fast, but it just felt so right, he wanted to be with her forever. He had already waited ten years for this, why wait a day later? If he were willing to forgive her for keeping such a huge secret from him, wouldn't the little things be a whole lot easier? He shook his head with a smile as he walked back towards his bedroom. For the first time in his life, he truly started seeing things around him.

It was like that scene in the Wizard of Oz where Dorothy steps out into Oz and everything is suddenly in color and bright instead of the dreadful monotony of her life. He realized that his apartment looked like the Kansas scenes in the movie, and with Hermione being in his life, it was like opening his eyes to a world of bright color and joy. Of course there's no wicked witch trying to kill them, and they're both not trying to find their way home, although he felt like he could really use some of that courage at this point as he was nervous in really telling her how he felt.

He laughed as he suddenly realized he was comparing his life to a PG movie, and one that Georgiana was spending ages talking about only a few days prior. He then realized it had been days since he had gone to work. Everyone was probably wondering where he was and if he was alive. With the old George, weekends did not exist, but he had taken a half day Friday, a full day Saturday, and now it was almost 3 and he was still at home. Chuckling to himself, he walked towards his bathroom in order to shower, and then he would head in to work.

"So you two are back together now?" Jenny asked as they both filed charts Monday morning. Hermione shrugged.

"I mean I guess," she said, "It is what it is, and I wouldn't want it to be anything that it isn't, I guess," she rationalized. Jenny stared at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Huh?" She asked.

"I don't know," Hermione said beginning to giggle. Jenny smiled.

"I think this is the first time I've seen you laugh," said Jenny. "I'm sorry I blew up with you last week."

"Don't worry about it," said Hermione. She placed a comforting hand on the sad brunette. "You were upset about a lot of things, I understand." She smiled. Jenny smiled in return and then both of their pagers buzzed simultaneously. Hermione groaned and ran towards the emergency room, followed closely by Jenny. They finally reached the ambulance bay and were automatically greeted by stretchers and orderlies telling them background and trauma attendings barking out orders. Hermione groaned inwardly as she began to check up on patients.

"Natasha?" George said, pressing his wand to his desk.

"Yes George?" She asked in a simpering baby like voice, while charming and adorable when he first met her, only managed to grate on his last nerve this morning.

"Can you bring me a cup of coffee, and also the forms for the upcoming merger?" He asked.

"Of course Georgie," she said as he thumped his head against his desk. True she was hot, but other than that, there wasn't much else going for her. She was one of those, all the lights are on, but nobody is home types. He sighed and leaned back in his swivel chair, turning to face the window staring outside at the New York skyline. He closed his eyes and was back in bed with Hermione, holding her, kissing her lightly freckled shoulder, running his hands over her—

"Coffee, and Blake Sheldon called, he wants to set up a phone conference for next week after the announcement," said Natasha to the back of his chair. He turned around and nodded as she gave him that information. She handed him the folder of the papers and as she did she managed to bend over, showing him a gratuitous amount of cleavage. He raised his eyebrow, thoroughly uninterested, and kind of disgusted with himself that he would have reacted to that merely three weeks before. She seemed disappointed as she took back the other forms and headed back to her desk out front.

He never thought that he would see Hermione again, and that realization tormented him and threw him into a slump he never thought he would get out of. Relationships were out of the question, but he had needs as well and since he knew he would never feel something towards anyone as he did the only two people he had ever loved, he did not mind being a heartbreaker. He just wished that he hadn't lost so much faith in himself. Suddenly the door flew open.

"You have a daughter?" Natasha yelled as she re-entered the room, not even bothering to announce herself prematurely. George felt his stomach drop, so he did forget to mention this to someone.

"Natasha," he said, standing up. The ginger-haired bombshell was enraged as she strutted over to his desk and stood, waiting for an explanation while crossing her arms and looking over at him poutingly.

"Well, some little bimbo called saying your daughter needs you to pick her up from school because _the slut_ is in surgery and _she _has a 104 degree fever," she said clenching her jaw and spitting out slut and she. George looked down guiltily. He really did not think through the five million repercussions.

"She's not a bimbo," he said, the all-too-familiar Weasley redness turning his ear warm, and he knew his face was red.

"Whatever," said Natasha, "Care to explain?" Suddenly the implications and message of what she actually said had hit her. Georgiana was sick and she needed him. He picked up his briefcase.

"Well, I promise I will later," he said touching her shoulder tenderly, "But I honestly should go and pick her up from school, tell Adam I will set up my meeting and conference in today. Also call back Hermione at this number," he handed her Hermione's business card, "And tell the hospital receptionist that I am picking up Anna," he said putting his blazer on. Natasha stared down at the ground angrily. He stopped for a second and put his hand on her shoulder and another under her chin and lifted her face to meet his eyes.

"Tasha," he said softly. She stared up at him defiantly. "You know that woman I'd speak of, the one who'd broken my heart?"

"The one who's name I never knew?"

"Yes, she's the one, it's her, Hermione. I love her, and I'm so sorry, I never realized I'd hurt you. Plus, you're such a young bright girl," he said with a small smile, "You deserve someone less grumpy—less old."

Natasha knew he was speaking the truth and sighed somewhat understandingly.

"Now come on dear, I've seen the looks between you and my head of the financing department, Milo, I don't deserve you," he said, kissing her forehead gently. "Now I have to go, hang in there okay?" George asked staring straight into Natasha's eyes. He squeezed her arm reassuringly and then ran out the door, practically rushing to make it into the subway so that he could get to his daughter.

He regretted stopping and talking to Natasha all that time, but a part of him knew it was absolutely necessary. After allowing himself a brief moment of self-pity, his thoughts turned to Anna. How much she had taken over her life had been unexpected. Merely within a few weeks, she was his life and carried his heart. He had fallen in love with the little girl and he saw so much of himself inside her as well as Fred. A smile crossed his face as he imagined a future with Anna and Hermione. Kissing Hermione every morning when he woke up, Anna coming in and interrupting them on Sunday, insisting that they do something. His smile broke into a full out grin as he left the subway station and images of a potential future flashed through his mind. He finally made it to her school and found the nurse's office. She was laying there in the dark, coughing and sneezing. He knelt beside her and placed a hand on her feverish head.

"Are you her father?" The nurse asked. George nodded, picking her up and holding her in his arms.

"I am," he said.

"Okay, just sign the form and I will have you two on your way," said the Nurse. After signing and as he was walking out of the building, he felt Anna's small arms wrap around his neck.

"It'll be alright," he said softly into her ear, "You're going to be fine." She replied only by coughing. He hailed a taxi while she shivered feverishly. He was confused, never actually having had experience in caring for someone when they were sick. As soon as they got into the taxi, George called Hermione.

"Hey," he said as she picked up the phone.

"George?" An unfamiliar voice asked. "It's Melanie, Hermione is still in surgery, and this one is going to be a long one unfortunately."

"I see," said George, "So I'll just take her back to my apartment, let Hermione know she's with me. I think it's just a cold."

"Okay, Hermione called in an antibiotic at the pharmacy nearest your apartment, I think it's the CVS right next to it? So if you could just pick up the medicine there, she says she'll reimburse you for—"

"No need for that," said George, "I'll talk to you later."

"Thanks!" She said, obviously distractedly, while quickly hanging up the phone. George clicked his small mobile closed, thankful that he had invested in one to begin with. Anna snuggled close to him, trying to take in some of his warmth as she shivered; her body heat was unbearably high. He stroked her arm comfortingly as she whimpered in obvious discomfort, periodically coughing and sneezing.

He left the cab driver a rather large tip as he picked Anna up again ready to take her upstairs. He couldn't believe she had fallen so ill so quickly, he had heard from the nurse that her teacher said she looked fine in the morning but suddenly succumbed as the day went on. He finally found his wand in his pocket and opened the door to his apartment.

"Where's mommy?" She asked as he lay her down in his bedroom, tucking her in under the covers. He placed a hand on her forehead and knelt beside the bed. Her large chocolate brown eyes stared back at her.

"Take a nap, I'm having someone get some medicine for you, but just go to sleep," he said softly, "Is there anything you want to eat particularly? Something for dinner?" She shook her head unhappily, tears cascading down her cheeks. He wiped some away softly.

"I want my mommy," she said, much to his chagrin. He knew that it had only been a short while since he had met her and that Hermione and others had been her entire support system. But unfortunately Hermione's parents had left after Thanksgiving to go on their month-long vacation in the Caribbean and Emma was in classes all day. He wanted to be there for her, but he knew that even though she knew who he was, he was never quite her father, biologically speaking he was, but otherwise, he felt somewhat cheated.

Of course he wasn't angry, he was more upset, and wished that he had the chance to really be more there for her. He should have actually sought Hermione out, but instead he threw himself into a life where he no longer was rejected or left alone, he decided when people were important to him and when they were not. He loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top few buttons on his shirt and leaned against the doorjamb. He pulled out his mobile trying to think of someone he could call to go and pick up her medicine when his doorbell rang. He sighed and walked over to the door, beginning to dial the number of Emma, maybe she'd be free he thought desperately, opening the door.

"George," said Percy Weasley standing at the door, hand up, and ready to ring the doorbell again.

"Perce," said George, shocked he was here. "What are you doing here?" He asked.

"It's the 16th of December, I haven't heard back from you about coming to see my son being born, so I thought I would actually check and see if you're alive, and well you are," he said angrily about to turn around and leave.

"Percy wait," said George, an idea beginning to formulate in his head.

"What?" Percy asked.

"I need you to do me a huge favor," said George, putting on his coat and scarf and checking his coat pocket to make sure his wallet was there.

"What?" Percy asked.

"Will you please stay here for 15 minutes while I get something from the pharmacy downstairs? I will explain when I get back, but my daughter currently has something that seems like the flu or something and she's in my bedroom trying to sleep at least, and I will be right back and will explain everything to you. It will all make sense," he said.

"What?" Percy asked again. "I feel like a parrot," he added to himself. "George, I didn't know you were seeing someone, let alone with a daughter," he said rushing inside.

"I will explain when I get back," George said tiredly, leaving a very stunned Percy standing in the apartment.

"Well I never," Percy said to himself.

"And you're sure she's yours?" Percy asked after George had finished recounting most of the story. George nodded with a smile.

"Yeah," he said, checking his watch. "I'm just going to go see how she's doing." He said heading towards his bedroom. Anna was finally asleep for the past few hours. He had gone crazy at the CVS, he had never been in one of those before but anything that said _children's_ or had something that could help her, he bought. Percy had read the instructions out loud as he gave her antibiotics and then a little bit of the cold medicine so that she could sleep in relative comfort and peace.

"Hey dad," she said softly as he knelt by the bed. He pulled out the thermometer that he had bought earlier.

"Hey sweetheart," He said touching her forehead. Although she was sweating profusely, her forehead did not signal something that was entirely too warm. Maybe the fever had broken. He placed the thermometer under her tongue and waited for the digital face to beep.

"99.6," George read, "Okay, your fever is down. How do you feel?" He asked.

"Icky," Anna responded. George laughed a little. He looked up and saw Percy smiling proudly, leaning on the doorjamb.

"Anna, I want you to meet someone very important to me," he said. "This is my brother Percy, your Uncle Percy, if you will." He beckoned Percy to approach. Percy knelt down beside George and waved towards Anna.

"Hey," he said.

"I have an uncle?" Anna asked.

"Oh, many," replied Percy with a grin. "Also aunts, you have a lot of those, but one biological one." He said. At Anna's confused expression he added, "Never mind."

"Where's mommy?" She asked.

"Well, she'll be by soon," said George, "You know how busy surgery can get. And I think today is the day where Emma is in class the longest."

"I hope I wasn't too disruptive," she said. George shook his head.

"No, you weren't," George said sternly, "And I never want you to think that you're being disruptive, I love having you around." He said honestly. "Now go try to get some more sleep." He got up and headed towards the door, followed by Percy. He turned off the light and left the room, feelings of rejection beginning to dissipate.

000000

(A/N) I know awkward place to stop. I am also aware that this story is taking an obscenely long time to update, but I promise those who stick with it will be well rewarded :- ). Remember once again to review! And I love you guys all very much! :D


	16. The One With A Dream

"George," Hermione said practically falling into his arms. "I'm so sorry it took this long, there were just complications after complications." She quickly kissed him on the cheek. Upon witnessing his slight hesitation, she noticed Percy standing over to the side, awkwardly trying to look away from everything.

"Percy," she said, a hint of surprise in her voice.

"Hey Hermione," said Percy with a slight nervous giggle. The three of them stood there for about a millisecond before anyone knew what to do when Percy suddenly went up to Hermione and began to shake her hand energetically. "It has been ages," he said kissing her on the cheek as well.

"It has," said Hermione patting him on the back and returning the gesture. "I'm just going to go quickly check on Anna," she said, swiftly running towards the bedroom George pointed her to. Percy smiled towards George, clicking his tongue in mock disapproval.

"Well," said Percy, "This may be the first time in many years I've seen you smile." He said, placing both arms on the shoulders of his younger brother.

"Mum doesn't know yet," George said softly. "Now you, Ron, probably Harry and therefore Ginny know…" He said trailing off.

"She's going to kill you," said Percy. George chuckled and looked worriedly over to Hermione.

"And Hermione," George added softly. Percy's smile faded as he realized that even in her older age, Molly was fiercely protective of her children. He removed his hands and took a step back, clearing his throat nervously.

"I mean, better late than never," said Percy. "Tell her around Christmas, she's more forgiving in this time of the year." George sighed, and gestured for Percy to stop talking as Hermione came back into the room.

"She's back to sleep," she said, "The fever is pretty much down, I think it's just the flu, she always gets it this time of year." She sat down on a barstool, sighing exhaustedly as she did. George chuckled and walked over to her, patting her on the back gently. Percy, unable to stop himself from grinning, cleared his throat.

"Well, I should go. Hermione, it was fantastic seeing you," he kissed her cheek.

"Goodbye Percy," she said, returning the favor and squeezing his hand softly. He smiled and walked over to George. The two brothers shared a warm embrace and the elder than proceeded to the fireplace, where he promptly flooed home. Finally, a moment of silence enveloped both Hermione and George and they crossed the room to bridge the distance between them.

He pulled her into his strong embrace and she clung to him.

"I missed you," he said, staring into her brown eyes. She smiled back up at him.

"Not as much as I missed you," she countered. He broke his hold on her and took her by the hand to the sofa, where he sat down and she nestled into his arms. His hands caressed her shoulder as she traced small lines on his chest absentmindedly.

"Long day?" He asked with a soft chuckle.

"To say the absolute least," she said. Suddenly she sat up, pulling him with her. They both sat facing each other with the utmost seriousness and she began to move her lips towards his. He gladly returned the favor, meeting her lips in a delicate yet passionate kiss. "I should go check on Anna," she said softly standing up and heading towards his bedroom. George nodded, sitting back and closing his eyes. For the first time that day he felt in a state of peace.

A moment later, he stood up and walked to his bedroom. Anna was lying down; breathing heavily while Hermione lay on her side stroking the younger's hair. He smiled and sat down on the bed on the other side. Hermione cocked her head and gestured for him to lie down too on the other side. Anna snuggled closer to him and he kissed the top of her head.

He whispered, "_lumos"_ under his breath and checked his watch. 11:45. He sighed, it had been an incredibly long day. He glanced over at Hermione and Anna laying side by side on his large bed and an incredible warmth spread over him. He remembered when he and Fred were little and would go crawl into Molly and Arthur's bed. Soon afterwards, Ron would toddle in while Ginny's crib would be in the corner. Sometimes Percy would join them, and the next morning, Bill and Charlie, feeling left out would always come in as well and all nine of them would be laughing in the same room, excited to just be a family.

As George recollected those moments of pure bliss, he felt his eyelids grow heavy and he succumbed to sleep.

_He was in a park, the lighting was oddly bright and everything had a tinge of yellow and orange to it. The greens were greener, the blue was bluer, and everything was just blindingly bright. There were birds chirping, and a brook babbled up ahead. George wandered around the grass, he knew he was looking for someone, he just did not know who. He also noticed that his hearing was a lot more clear an he reached up with his right hand and found that he had two intact ears. He smiled, checking his reflection in a clear blue pond that seemed to appear beside him. An identical reflection stood beside him and he turned. _

_Fred Weasley was standing right there, hands on his hips, grin flashing across his face. _

"_Fred!" George exclaimed, throwing himself into the latter's arms. Fred laughed and hugged him back. His laugh seemed more echoey and distant, but George did not care. He felt tears stream down his face as he clung to his brother, hoping he would never have to leave him. _

"_We don't have much time," Fred said. _

"_What?" George asked confusedly. _

"_Well, strictly speaking, you have as long as you wake up. I don't have that much time," he said, emphasizing the I. _

"_Why?" George asked. _

"_This isn't something we really often get to do in the great beyond," he said waving his arms around. _

"_What's it like?" _

"_It's pretty nice," Fred said. "But really, I miss being alive." _

"_I miss you," George said, tears pouring down his face. _

"_I'm right here silly," Fred said. George stared down at the ground. _

"_You know what I mean," said George. "I never got to say goodbye." _

"_I tried to," said Fred, "I saw you coming with me, and well, at least you could be saved."_

"_Why are you here now?" _

"_To see you silly," said Fred. "I got to come see you because it will be so long until we're reunited, and we can cause so much mayhem over here."_

"_I look forward to it," said George with a smile. They both walked towards a bench and sat down. _

"_Anna is cute," said Fred after a while. _

"_She is, isn't she? I just don't know how I'm going to tell Mum." _

"_Glad I'm here for that," said Fred with a wink, "I don't know how you're going to do that either." George laughed and began to sob again. _

"_Oh boy," said Fred, "You've turned pansy on me." He laughed. George chuckled a little through his tears and placed his head tenderly on his brother's shoulder. Fred put his arm around George and patted him on his shoulder a little awkwardly. _

"_I don't hate you," said Fred. "For ending up like you did. You did a pretty good job, had I been in your place, I don't think I could have fared quite as well. And you were lucky to have Hermione." He paused and grinned, "You love her don't you?"_

"_With all my heart," said George. _

"_I can see that," Fred said with a grin. "Well, before we end up like a 90s American Sitcom, what else is there to talk about? Oh! How's Angelina doing?" He asked, a certain tenderness in his voice towards her. George smiled sadly. _

"_She pretty much mourned you like I did, minus the firewhiskey. But she threw herself into becoming an Auror and then she fell in love with this French boy. I think his name was Christophe d'Artagnan. But they're married, I don't know if they have kids, but they've pretty much become freelancers and are doing fairly well. But one day out of the year, she goes to England and we both meet up and go to—"_

"_My tombstone," Fred finished. _

_George remained silent. _

"_So everyone has moved on?" Fred asked. George nodded. "Good," said Fred, "The only time I was actually allowed to do this is when you've moved on. I thought ten years ago I'd be able to come see you, but that fell through. But I'm glad to see you're moving on." Fred said._

"_Me too," George agreed. "I mean I wouldn't say I'm over it, but I have a reason to live again Fred." Fred smiled, and George mirrored. They both embraced tightly. Fred looked George square in the eyes. _

"_This is our last time saying goodbye," he said, tenderly wiping the tears from George's face. "Next time we meet, you're coming with me." He smiled. George sighed. _

"_I should wake up now I guess," said George. Fred nodded. _

"_Also, the new owner of the shop…well April Fools: Weasley Wizarding Wheezes…not a big fan."_

"_Neither am I," George agreed. _

"_Fix that, will you?" Fred winked. George nodded, squeezing his brother's hand tightly. As Fred stood up and walked off, George smiled, although he missed Fred dearly, he was looking forward to the future. He leaned back on the bench and closed his eyes. As he opened them, he found himself in his apartment._

Anna was asleep beside him and he checked his clock. It was 5:00 AM. A smile crept up on his face as he looked at the young girl at peace. Hermione had her arm around Anna also peacefully asleep. He looked at the two of them, his girls. Who knew that in a few short weeks, everything could change? He sat up on the bed gingerly so as not to wake the other two and he tip toed over to his study in the next room.

He sat at his desk, still in his clothes from the previous evening, and stared down at the folders he brought back with him. More mergers for the company, insignificant ones that no one would ever really care about except for the small joke and novelty stores in the nation trying to merge to avoid bankruptcy. April Fool could only acquire so many companies in one calendar year, and since most of the acquisitions occur in April, this was the time of year he would send his finance division around the country in order to let the small businesses down. George sighed, it was a heartless job, but the only way he could keep the company afloat. He sighed and placed his head in his hands.

Hours later, or was it moments, he felt a soft hand on his shoulder. He leaned his head against the hand and then looked up at Hermione.

"Why are you up?" She asked. He looked at her and looked down at his pile of work. Hermione sat up on the desk and he put his hand on her knees, slowly rubbing them.

"George Weasley doing work," said Hermione with a grin, "And I thought that was the stuff of legends."

"Oi," George said playfully.

"I took the day off," said Hermione. George looked up at her. "Not for you, erm, I figured since, well, I mean I have no reason to not be a witch anymore, and I have kind of been missing it. I'm thinking about going to the hospital in New York at Dramtik Alley and seeing if they have any training slots for being a healer." She said staring down at her knees. "Plus, then we could see each other more often and not when my—our daughter is sick."

"You don't have to change your life around for me," said George. Hermione made eye contact with him for the first time since they were up.

"But George," she said, "I already did." George looked down at his paperwork and then looked up at her. He stood up as if to say something. His mouth opened and closed several times with the full intention of speaking but no words came out.

"It was my decision," Hermione said, "But—"

"Shut up," said George softly.

"What?" Hermione asked, rather taken aback.

"No buts, no explanations, no apologies. What happened happened, and if you try to apologize again, apologize for driving me absolutely insane."

"Insane?"

He did not reply with words but merely stood up to meet her gaze. He slowly lowered his lips towards her and kissed her strongly, full of intensity and passion. Moments later they separated.

"I should go check on Anna," Hermione said, "I'll take her home today."

"You don't have to," George said looking down.

"All of our things are there, but you can come stay with us," Hermione said coyly pulling his shirt close to her chest. George looked down and smiled, kissing her softly.

"I have to go into the office for a few hours today. But I'll come by if you don't feel like I'm intruding," said George. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Shut up," she said.

"What?" He asked.

"You'll drive me crazy if you're not there," she said. George grinned and they both heard Anna rolling around while obviously very congested. She let out a small sad cough. Hermione sighed softly while turning around and walking towards the bedroom. George followed her in as they both began to fuss over their daughter. It was time for another round of medicine, and they both seamlessly fell into a routine helping each other help Anna.

At the office George found himself humming along with the Christmas carolers singing around. He even began to decorate his office, a little tinsel here, and a little tinsel there. He transfigured a scarf into a wreath and hung it up on the door much to the shock of his employees.

"Um, sir?" One of them asked, clearly afraid if his boss's brain had been addled.

"Yes Wallace?" He asked as he charmed his hammer to hang up the wreath and twinkle lights around his doorway.

"Are you okay, sir?" He asked sheepishly.

"I am fine," said George laughing. "And no, I didn't steal all of these Christmas decorations from the citizens of Who-ville." Wallace looked at him uneasily unsure of what to do.

"Laugh, Wallace," he said, "You're allowed to." Wallace began to laugh awkwardly. "You may go now," said George with a sigh. Pretty soon word had spread far and wide that the Grinch had grown his heart, Scrooge had seen the ghosts, pretty much every Christmas story ever told. Employees would walk by the office to see if the rumors had been true. After a while, George finally had his new secretary dismiss everyone from the area threatening to cut their vacation time in half.

As he was reinstated into the league of number one office villain, George walked up the short flight of steps to where Adam's office was. He reached the door as Lavender walked out holding their son's hand. Adam followed closely.

"Bye Adam," said Lavender turning around and kissing him lightly on the lips. She waved at George. "Bye George," she said.

"Off on vacation?" George asked. Lavender nodded.

"Disneyworld for a week, and then next week Adam will join us and we're going on the cruise. 7 days without magic, but I think we can handle it. It should be fun." She said with a smile. "Say goodbye to your Uncle George," she said.

"Bye Uncle George," the little boy said.

"Bye Peter." George waved with a warm grin. Lavender and Adam seemed taken aback. Usually George was _kind_ to their child, but his version of kind had always been a curt nod. Usually he just denied the presence of children wherever he went. After a few moments of flabbergasted silence, Lavender kissed Adam again and then went to kiss George on the cheek. He was receptive, and returned the gesture.

"Hello stranger," she whispered with a grin. George looked down at her with a smile. After they both left, Adam nodded George into his office. He waved his wand and a bottle of scotch lifted itself up and towards two glasses that danced out of their place to stand at attention. Some cubes of ice flew into the glasses clinking as they touched the glass and then one another.

"What's up?" Adam asked, sitting behind his desk.

"I need some time off," said George staring at his shoes.

"What?" Adam asked raising his eyebrows in shock.

"She's back," said George.

"Who's back?" Adam asked.

"Remember when we had some scotch, not this one, the poison one, and I told you about a girl that broke my heart?" George asked. Adam nodded.

"Yep," he said, already aware of where this conversation was going. "Are you sure man, I mean she really really fucked you over," he said. George smiled and looked down.

"We both fucked each other over," George said, "I never told her I loved her, she never had a chance to admit her feelings towards me. But Adam, in the ten years I've worked for you, I've never had time off. You know that the turnover to me as CEO won't go over until after the tax year is over, so I won't sit in this office until May. Just until New Years," said George. Adam sighed.

"You've got it," said Adam, "But you owe me big time."

"Thank you so much," George said with a grin. "See you tomorrow at the party?" Adam nodded. George left the office and sighed. It had taken forever for him to get this far but he was happy. He turned the hallway and began to whistle _Deck the Halls_ to himself, much to the shock of a mailroom delivery boy that had been terrorized by him many times.

"Afternoon Frank," he said with a grin. Frank dropped his neatly stacked pile of envelopes. George laughed and flicked his wand, resuming it to the surprised boy's hands.

"Af-af-afternoon Mr. Weasley," George turned around and began to whistle another cheery Christmas tune to himself.

He reached Hermione's apartment at around five, and hoped that both of the girls were at home. Sure enough Hermione came to the door to answer it. As soon as she opened the door she fell into his arms, and he held her small body tightly. She leaned up and kissed him.

"How was your day?" She asked him. He shrugged.

"I managed to get the rest of the month off," he said as they both walked up the stairs hand in hand. Soon he heard Anna's voice excitedly race down the stairs and she jumped into his arms. "Is she well enough to be out of bed?" He asked Hermione. Hermione nodded.

"It must have been a 24 hour flu," she said, "She seems well enough."

"Why are we going upstairs?" Anna asked, she was already bundled in her coat and scarves. George looked confused. Hermione laughed as well.

"Mommy needs to get dressed as well," she said, to Anna. She looked up at George.

"Anna wants to go buy a real Christmas tree this year. So I said we'd wait until you got back to see if you wanted to come with us." George nodded enthusiastically.

"Sounds like fun," he exclaimed. Anna pulled his hand down the stairs.

"Come on!" She moaned, "I have to get it tonight so that we can decorate it, I have a four hour dance rehearsal tomorrow."

"I will run upstairs and get my coat gloves and scarf," said Hermione checking to see that Anna was properly bundled up, "And I will meet you two downstairs." She ran up the stairs in twos to try and get ready quickly. Before George could see her retreating figure, he was pulled down the steep staircase by his daughter who took him out to the front porch.

"When is your dance recital?" He asked as she danced around trying to keep warm in the cold air.

"We're opening Sunday and then until Thursday."

"Are you excited?" He asked. Anna nodded with a wide grin.

"I am," she said, "It should be a really good performance. We're teaming up with a really advanced ballet studio that are doing the character dances. George shrugged.

"I've never seen it," he said, "so it'll be my first time." She grinned widely as Hermione finally came out and joined the two of them closing the door behind her as she went.

"Hey, we can go," she said. The three of them went down the stairs and turned left towards the end of the street.

"Where are we going," George asked.

"Upstate," Hermione said rummaging around in her purse.

"And how are we getting there?" He asked as they crossed the street and Hermione swiped her card into a building.

"Car," she said.

"You have a car?" He asked.

"No, but my dad does," said Hermione. She pressed the up button and they waited for the elevator. George looked startled. Hermione nudged him with elbow.

"You okay?" She asked.

"You can drive?" He asked. She nodded.

"Dad taught me," she said. "I'm good," she insisted.

"Okay," said George, smiling.

"Okay," said Hermione staring up at him. Anna cleared her throat loudly behind them as the elevator announced its arrival. George laughed, a little embarrassed.

"So what'd you do all day today Anna?" He asked.

"Homework," Anna grumbled staring at her mother.

"But that's good," said George.

"Seriously?" Anna asked raising her eyebrow and looking up at him.

"Yeah," said George faking his enthusiasm. Hermione looked over at him sternly so that he couldn't say anything to the contrary.

"So what were you like in school?" Anna asked, interlacing her fingers with his as they headed to the car. Hermione pressed a small button on the keys she was holding and a car in the distance chirped open.

"Me?" George asked as Hermione walked ahead and he purposefully held the two of them back and leaned down towards Anna. "Don't tell your mum," he said softly handing her a small box.

"What's this?" She asked. He opened it and there was another box inside, the words were faded completely.

"Insta-sneeze," he said looking towards Hermione who stood by her car with a questioning glance. He held one finger up indicating her to wait a minute.

"What?"

"Just a small pinch of this near whomever you want to suffer, and for around ten minutes they won't be able to stop sneezing. It's really strong so don't use it too much, save it for special occasions." Her face lit up. He winked and stood up clearing his throat as he did.

"And that's how I passed my O.W.L.S," he said walking towards Hermione, winking to her as they got into the car. Hermione climbed into the drivers seat and as Anna was buckling her seatbelt she leaned over to George.

"Don't think I believe that for a second," she said in mock-anger, winking as she leaned back and put her seatbelt on. As soon as the key turned in the ignition, smooth jazz music began to play. All three of them at the same time groaned, and then laughed as George began fiddling with the radio stations.

A few hours later they made it to the farm sky was black above, stars glimmering. He looked up.

"Stars," he commented. Hermione smiled.

"They're beautiful," she replied. Anna rushed ahead to look at Christmas trees, unfazed by dazzling array above. Hermione grabbed his hand and pointed up towards the sky.

"It's Sirius," she said pointing to Orion's leg. George smiled.

"You look for that too?"

"Every night this time of year," said Hermione with a grin, "It's almost like he's up there, reminding us of our past. Biting our ankles."

"That was deep," said George.

"Are you mocking me?" Hermione asked.

"Only a little," George said putting his arm around her shoulder and squeezing her tightly. She leaned her head against his chest and sighed.

"So you got the whole month off?" She asked. George kissed her head.

"Yes," he said.

"Why?" She asked him.

"I want to get to know the two of you," he replied honestly, "I missed a lot, I don't want to spend a moment away from you." Hermione stared up at him, shocked that he would be so candid. She turned and wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up at him. She was just about to reply when she hear Anna coming towards them.

"Mommy, I found it!" Anna exclaimed excitedly. A shadow of disappointment crossed her face as she realized the conversation would have to be placed on pause.

"Where is it?" She asked walking towards Anna. George followed at a short distance as they came across the tree. It was perfect, large, but not too tall. It was very grand, with strong branches, and if it didn't just scream _Christmas_ George didn't know what did.

A few hours later, after a silent car ride (Anna was asleep), they arrived in New York. Hermione parked back in the small car park that they had gone to before. She was about to shake Anna awake when George placed his hand on her shoulder and shook his head.

"I'll get her," he whispered. Before Hermione could protest, he picked the small child up and she sleepily wrapped her arms around his neck. Hermione closed the car door and locked the door as George stood back.

"Are you okay?" She whispered. George looked at her as if she were being absolutely silly and nodded. It seemed only a few moments later for George that Hermione was helping Anna wash up and change. He was sitting in Hermione's bedroom. He unbuttoned his work shirt and sat down on the bed in his t-shirt underneath and his slacks. He looked around the bedroom at the picture frames hanging around. There were multiple of Anna as a baby girl and he could have sworn that it was him as a baby, and was almost surprised when there wasn't another identical copy somewhere around.

"Hey," said Hermione from behind him. He heard the door shut. He turned and Hermione was wearing, well, a night dress was a very loose term for what she was wearing. She looked down and looked back up at him coyly.

"Merlin's beard," he said softly. She walked up to him, slowly and when she reached him she took his face into her hands and kissed her, need evident in her grasp. Suddenly she was no longer Dr. Hermione Granger, trained surgeon about to be a healer-in-training, and he was no longer George Weasley C.F.O of April Fools Inc about to be the C.E.O of the company. It was ten years ago again in the house by the lake in England, their love for each other secret, but real.

"Wait," he said as she tore his shirt off, running her hands up and down his back.

"I cast a silencing charm," she said. "Emma went back home today to Paris for the holidays, and Anna is asleep." George stared down at her and kissed her passionately, removing her garment with ease.

vvvvvvv

"I love you," George said as they lay together in her bed. She turned to him and smiled, stroking his cheek gently. She caressed his scarred ear and a tear fell from her eye and traveled over the bridge of her nose. He wiped it and placed that hand on top of hers on the side of his face. He rubbed it consolingly and then pulled it to his lips and kissed it gently.

"What?" He asked as more tears fell down her face.

"What was it like?" She asked.

"What was what like?" He asked her, genuinely confused. She pointed to his ear and he rolled over and stared at the ceiling. He pulled her onto his chest and played with her hair.

"Well I was with Lupin, we were flying on brooms. I guess I was on a high, shooting Death Eaters right and left, I thought I was the king of the world to be honest. It was exhilarating, I imagined that's what muggle boys felt like when they played video games. Out of nowhere suddenly I felt a blinding pain on the side of my face.

"I dunno what it was, it felt like someone had just slapped me with something. I honestly thought something had struck my cheek and I pulled my hand to my face to feel it and suddenly it hit something warm and sticky.

"At this point time just sort of slowed down, and I was beginning to get dizzy. The pain kept on increasing and the last thing I remember was falling. I fell so fast. And that's all I remember. I thought I was dying.

"Next thing I know you guys are all around me and Fred is sitting in front of me. And what scared me most about the whole thing was his face. He looked as if he had almost lost everything, I felt even worse about the fact that that he was so pale and green. I had to joke about it. No matter how much pain I was in, I couldn't bear—"

He stopped, and sat up on the bed, pulling his knees closer to his chest. Hermione knelt by him, her hand on his knee.

"You couldn't bear to see him like that," she finished. He looked over at her and smiled.

"Why do you ask?"

"Do you still have nightmares about it?"

"I do," he said, "Almost everytime I dream I see Fre—"

"No, not that," Hermione interrupted, "About getting your ear chopped off."

"Not really," said George, "Why? Are you okay? Do you still have dreams about the Manor?" She stared down and nodded, refusing to make eye contact with him. He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. After a while, she pulled away from him and walked over to her desk where she had placed her wand when she came into the room earlier. She returned to her spot on the bed and pressed her wand against her forearm and a harsh white outline began to form on her arm.

"I've been hiding this for almost 11 years," she said softly as the scar began to show up more clearly, MUDBLOOD, written with a cursed knife. "Concealment charm." She said softly.

"Hermione," he whispered in a sort of strangled kind of way. He touched the scar gently. He traced over the letters with his hand and then kissed her forearm. He looked at her. She had tears flowing down her face. She threw her arms around his and buried her face into his shoulder.

"I love you," she said. He pulled her away from him and grinned, only to pull her face towards his and kiss her lips gently. They both lay back down on the bed, spooning.

"The Christmas party is tomorrow night," he said softly.

"I have to find a babysitter for Anna," Hermione said, "The girl who was going to do it before just cancelled. There's a girl who lives downstairs who really gets along well with her and has offered me her services whenever I would need them. I'll just ask her if she's free."

"Good," said George.

"Also thank you so much for picking Anna up yesterday," she added.

"Seriously, it was nothing."

"No, I shouldn't have asked, you had to leave work. I know that's imp—" she furrowed her eyebrows and then laughed hysterically. "I'm sorry I can't do it." she said through tears.

"What?" George asked with a grin.

"No seriously, I can't do it," Hermione said with even more difficulty. This is too good. He laughed, but purely out of confusion.

"Seriously?"

"I know you've changed a lot, I see it," said Hermione wiping tears from her eyes, "But I can't bring myself to say that work is imp—" she began to laugh again.

"Is it so difficult to believe that work is important to George Weasley?" He asked. Hermione nodded as he began to laugh too.

"It's not," he said, "It's just important to everyone else, so I figure I should actual—" He began to laugh, "I'm sorry I can't do it either," he said. After a few moments of side splitting hysterical laughter, they calmed down enough.

"But seriously, I hope it wasn't inconvenient."

"No, it wasn't. Not even a little. I'm glad I could have been there, I just wish—"

"You wish what?"

"I just wish that, I could have been there. I know it's a moot point, but I can't help but feeling like I've missed a lot," George admitted. Hermione sat up and brought her knees to her chest.

"I know," she said, "I have home movies for you, but I wish you had been there too. The first time she said mom, the first time she walked, or ate solid food, a part of me imagined what you would say if you were sitting there with me. And it's my fault entirely. It was the young stupid angsty teenager in me." She looked at him. He was facing forward, avoiding her eye. She couldn't read his expression. He seemed to be thinking. "But seriously George, if there's anything I can do to make you show that I'm in this for good, I won't ever run from you again. I'm exactly where I want to be. I want this to last fore—" He stopped her words with a kiss. She smiled.

"Well," he said after he stopped kissing her, "There is _something_ you can do."

"What?" Hermione asked.

"Come with me to the burrow next Saturday after the ballet, It'll be Christmas Eve, all three of us. We're going to tell Mum."

Hermione's eyes widened in fear.

(A/N) OH NO! Okay so It's def almost been a whole year that I've started this story. Thank to you to all those who stuck by me, and I can safely say that I can promise at least one more chapter before the week is out! Remember, the more you review, the faster I update :)


	17. The One With a Christmas Party

"What?" Hermione asked.

"Exactly," said George.

"She's going to murder me," said Hermione. George sighed.

"We have to sometime, the longer we wait the worse it's going to be." George reasoned. Hermione squealed and ducked under her comforter and turned into a shivering lump.

"What are you doing?" George asked with a bemused look on his face.

"Going into hiding," Hermione said, her voice muffled by the covers.

"But you've fought Voldemort," George exclaimed.

"_That_ wasn't scary," said Hermione.

"But this is?"

"Yes."

"You're frightened of my mum."

"Yes."

"You're silly," said George, "I've done so much to warrant her anger at me. It's not that bad."

"You didn't hide her grandchild from her," said Hermione.

"True," said George. He chuckled and pulled the comforter over his head. He leaned over the edge of the bed and grabbed his wand from the back pocket of his trousers and whispered lumos. They were both laying under the comforter, face inches apart from each other.

"I'll hide with you," he said with a grin. "I'll talk to her first. But you just have to be there with me."

"I know," said Hermione, "I was actually going to suggest it to be honest. I'm scared though," she admitted. He shook his head.

"There's nothing to be scared about." He said, "It'll suck, but I think it'll be okay in the end. You know Molly, she'll hold a small grudge, but the moment she sets eyes on Anna she's gong to fall in love." He smiled and placed his hand under her chin and lifted her eyes up to his while rubbing it gently, "I know I did." She smiled and snuggled closely into him.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"The party is tonight?" Jenny asked drinking her coffee and sitting outside the fitting room as Hermione was trying on dresses. "You look like a cupcake." She said when Hermione emerged in a horridly pink and white dress.

"It looked so much better on the mannequin," Hermione agreed as the dress flared out in all the wrong places. She groaned and went back into the fitting room.

"Yeah the party is tonight," Hermione said from behind the curtain. She sounded frustrated.

"And you just forgot?"

"Well you remember this week, even if I remembered, then this would be the only day I could go shopping."

"I can't believe you quit the program."

"I had to," said Hermione.

"So you can, what, marry him and become a housewife?" Jenny scoffed.

"You won't understand. But no, I got accepted at another hospital, I'm just transferring over there so I can be closer to him. It's still in the city but the hours were better too, and they had a fellowship in what I want to do."

"Which is—" Jenny asked.

"Zip me up," said Hermione opening the curtain behind her.

"Funny haven't heard of that one before," said Jenny zipping the dress up. Hermione turned around and sighed. "Oh my god," Jenny said under her breath.

"What?" Hermione asked, walking towards the mirror. She was startled by her reflection.

"If you don't get that, I will never speak to you again," said Jenny. Hermione turned around while looking on all three sides. This was it. She smiled.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"I got a research grant from a training hospital in town," Hermione partially lied when they were both sitting at the hair salon later that day. Jenny decided to get a haircut while Hermione got her hair done for the party that night.

"That's pretty cool," Jenny admitted. Hermione smiled.

"Yeah," she said. "I'm pretty excited."

"What are George and Anna up to today?"

"Well Anna is just now getting out of her dance class," said Hermione, "So George just went to the office to pick up some things, tie up loose ends and then he's picking her up and I think they're going to the ice rink in Rockefeller Plaza."

"That sounds like fun," said Jenny.

"Yeah," Hermione said.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"How was dance?" George asked.

"The snowflakes don't know their part, but the candy canes were awesome," said Anna. "This was our first time dancing with the other ballet school. But I think the show will be awesome. Plus, we're performing at the Lincoln Center, she said holding his hand tightly. George smiled.

"I can't wait to see you," he said. Anna smiled. He took her dance bag from her hands and slung it over his shoulder.

"You don't have to," Anna said.

"I want to," he said. They both took the subway to Rockefeller plaza and rented skates.

"Do you know how to skate?" Anna asked. George shook his head.

"Not really," he said, "do you?"

"A little bit," Anna said lacing up her skates and standing up. "I can teach you," she said holding out a gloved hand. George stood up shakily, not expecting to be able to balance on thin metal rods. To his surprise, walking on the rubber pads was not all that difficult. Anna then stepped easily onto the ice rink and turned around and offered her hand to her father.

"Come on Dad," she said with a grin. George took a deep breath, stepped out onto the ice and landed on his butt.

"Bloody hell," he exclaimed, "This ice is slippery."

"No shit Sherlock," Anna exclaimed. George's eyes widened. Anna placed her hand over her mouth as she realized what she said. George chuckled.

"Mom doesn't mind usually," said Anna, "As long as she doesn't know." George shook his head and laughed.

"You cheeky little thing," he said clutching the side of the rink, afraid to fall down again. Anna skated slowly alongside him. She held her hand out.

"Come on," she said, "It's not that hard."

For the next few hours, she taught George how to move forward slowly and backwards and how to fall so that it didn't hurt. When they left, the sun was setting. They laughed and talked about everything, chattering endlessly.

"I had a twin, you know," said George as they were in the subway going back.

"Really?" Anna asked.

"Yeah, his name was Fred. The two of us would get into so much trouble at Hogwarts," he said.

"Really, like how?"

"Well, basically he and I were known as the school pranksters. We invented things, basically practical jokes to play on our classmates, teachers, people who worked at the school. We were the nightmares of the administration, and your mum," said George.

"Really?" Anna laughed.

'Yeah, she would try to keep us in line all the time. One time we got sick of this one teacher, really sick. And this was our last year at Hogwarts, we set off these fireworks that, well the other professors knew how to stop them but they didn't. Everyone hated this foul woman, in fact, Hermione actually turned her head for these pranks and let us set off these fireworks that would just go crazy. Or we built a swamp that took over one of the hallways." George laughed.

"Where is Fred?" Anna asked, "I mean what happened to him?"

"He died," said George, "Did your mum tell you about the war?" Anna nodded.

"A little," she said, "She said there was a really evil wizard that would have taken over the world. How it was basically like the fascist state we are studying in class about Hitler. She said that the wizard was like him, and muggle borns like here were like the jews basically. It doesn't sound fun."

"Yeah, well one of his followers killed my brother while we were fighting," George said. Anna placed her head on his shoulder in a comforting gesture. George smiled.

"He was a really really bad man," said Anna, "The man that could do that."

"They were all really bad men. Did your mum tell you that she was the one that led to his demise, that basically helped kill him?"

"No way…my mom was cool?"

"The coolest," George replied honestly, "She was a hero, and she saved all of us. When I was sad about my brother," he said while standing up as they approached their stop, "She made me feel better." Anna smiled.

"Do you miss him?"

"I do," said George, "But he's right here with me," he pointed to his heart, "And I see a lot of him in you." He said patting her head. She grinned widely. "So where is this friend's house at which you're staying over?" He asked.

"Oh it's just down here, Grace and her mom are meeting us downstairs."

"And she'll take you to rehearsal tomorrow?" George asked.

"Yep," said Anna as they stopped in front of an apartment building. The doorman opened the door for both of them and they stood in the decadent lobby waiting hand in hand.

"I had fun today," she admitted, "But I wish I could have met Uncle Fred. Do you think he'd have liked me?" George tousled her hat around a little bit, messing up the hair underneath with a laugh.

"He wouldn't have at all," he said kneeling down. At her disappointment, he lifted her little chin up and saw Hermione's deep warm chocolate eyes. "He would have _loved_ you." Anna grinned and hugged George tightly as he felt his heart melt.

"Grace!" She exclaimed as the elevator doors opened. She untangled herself from George and ran over to where her friend was standing next to a woman George could only describe as uppity. He stood and walked over to her holding his hand out.

"George Weasley," he said, "Father." Grace's mother looked her up and down and raised her eyebrow.

"Yes, you are," she stated, keeping her hands firmly to herself.

"Bye Dad," Anna said hugging him quickly and running to join her friend in the elevator.

"Bye sweetheart," he said waving and smiling. "And you can take her to dance class along with Grace?"

"Yes, Florence, our maid, will escort them to the Dance Academy," she stated in a pretentious non-British almost-British type of way. "And I have not met you before. Only Georgiana's mother. I am Greta von Susserhoff," she said.

"

"Oh," said George mimicking her pretentious nature, "Oh my, well I am charmed to meet you, enchanté," he said dramatically kissing her hand. She scoffed and walked off.

"Well tally-ho and a pip pip to you ma'am," he said to himself faking a real pretentious English accent. He chortled to himself and mimicked the way she strutted off to wait for her elevator. He shook his head and laughed to himself the two blocks it took to walk to Hermione's place. Right on cue, his new secretary was waiting at the steps for him.

"Hello sir," he said excitedly, "I picked up your tux from the cleaners, your toiletries from your flat, and the corsage from the flower shoppe and also the—other thing" He leaned in close to George and handed him rectangular box which George quickly put into his pocket.

"Thanks Greig," said George, "And I know this is unconventional, but I know it is your first few day on the job, thank you for coming in on such short notice, but I digress. As you know, I'm taking a leave of absence for the next few weeks, not that long, only short, next week is Christmas, and then a few weeks after that to New Years. So you have a couple choices. You get one week paid vacation for Christmas anyways, and New Years Eve and Day off as well, but other than that, you can either just take the rest of the time off, or I can talk to Adam and have you work for someone until I get back."

"I just got married, and well, money is rather tight, so I would prefer to work as much as possible if you don't mind," he said honestly staring down.

"Not a problem," said George, "I will tell Adam tonight, and I will see you there won't I?" Greig nodded excitedly.

"And you'll be bringing the Missus?"

"I will," said Grieg.

"I will look forward to seeing you then, now hurry home and change!" George said shooing the young man away. He jumped up the stairs and checked his watch. Hermione said that she would leave the door open when he would be due to get there. Since Emma was gone for the holidays, she told him he could just use her bathroom and bedroom to change as she would be running around the city trying to do a whole load of last minute shopping. He showered and then fairly quickly changed into the tuxedo style dress robes, placing a cloak over and looking at himself in the mirror.

For the first time, he cast off the perception charm and allowed his scar to show through. If people were frightened, it was their problem, but he was rather proud of it. It was a mark of his contribution to society. He lifted his hair to stare at it, the scars still prominent. He sighed and rearranged his hair slicking it back with some gel Grieg had brought. He smiled as he looked at the tux, the jacket was black, but he decided that he'd bring a touch of himself back into his wardrobe. He turned around, it didn't clash too poorly actually, the red vest and bow tie. It looked rather nice. He could also charm it to match Hermione's dress. He heard her cursing in the next room to herself as she got ready, her friend fussing around her.

He smiled to himself and called out, "Whenever you're ready! Dinner starts at 7:30!" He sat down and checked his watch, 6:30, hopefully they had plenty of time.

vvvvv

"It took him fifteen minutes to get dressed?" Jenny asked as she hairsprayed Hermione's hair in place for the fifteenth time. Hermione sighed and nodded, trying to get her makeup on.

"I guess he's quick," said Hermione shrugging.

"Don't do that," Jenny pointed. "Don't move a muscle, I have about fifteen pins left to finish sewing you into your dress."

"Told you your design minor would come in handy," Hermione joked. Jenny rolled her eyes and resumed pinning the rest of her dress.

"This isn't design, this is alteration. Last minute shopping is the worst idea ever."

"At least entertain me while I have to stand this still," said Hermione.

"Well I broke up with Mark last week. You know that. But I started to realize that I can't really love Mark if I'm in love with someone else, and the reason I was so eager in the first place is because, well I don't kow."

"You're in love with someone else?" Hermione asked. Jenny nodded. "Not—"

"Yes"

"Him?"

"Yes."

"Still? After however many years?"

"Eight. And yeah, and Mark was this great older man that just picked me up at a down time in my life, and I thought, you know, he's cute and older and attractive. I thought I could do that, but he's not Michael. I did care about Mark and wanted to cling onto the relationship, but only because I knew that Michael would never feel the same way about me."

"Well never is too strong, he has been sending you mountain loads of mixed signals," said Hermione. Jenny scoffed.

"I know. All through college with his bullshit that I had to deal with. I just never thought we'd stay friends after college, and have him still remain as the guy that I go to about pretty much everything except—"

"Except the fact that you're madly and desperately in love with him?" Hermione asked teasingly.

"Right. So I figured, it hurts too much to not have him in my life as more, and although it would hurt a lot if or when he rejects me, I love him too much to let this continue. He's my best friend," she said putting the remaining pin into Hermione's dress, "I just can't take it anymore though. So I'm meeting him for dinner tonight and dropping the bomb." She stared into Hermione's face.

"No," she said simply, pulling Hermione's makeup bag, "Let me show you how a master does it—well at least a former dancer." Hermione sighed and sat down on her bed.

"_It's 6:45!" _A voice called out from the living room.

"In a minute!" Hermione yelled out.

"Aww how cute you're already an old married couple," said Jenny fixing her eyeliner. "Okay done," she said. Hermione looked at herself in the mirror and took a few steps back.

"Good job," she said. Jenny smiled with her hands crossed over her chest.

"I am simply amazing," she announced with a flourish. Hermione gave her a grateful look and sighed nervously.

"I'll go announce you," said Jenny leaving the room. Hermione sighed and followed her, staring at the floor. She looked up at George and felt her heart catch at her chest. He had removed the perception charm from his face so his ear was standing out, especially because he had gelled his hair back. But it only made him more handsome, if that were possible. Jenny tiptoed out of the apartment, waving bye as she went. Hermione waved with a small mutter of acknowledgement. She was too busy staring at George. He looked amazing, his red vest and bow tie stood out, but not in a bad way. She smiled and made her way over to him.

He was floored. He had never seen anyone so beautiful in his life. Her dress seemed to shimmer with every step, but there was no sparkle. It was a red evening gown that draped over one shoulder and was tight on the top but it flared out underneath. There was a black mesh netting over it which subdued the scarlet underneath. The shoulder had ruffles which got less prominent as it went around her arm. The black sash complimented the dress well. Nothing was overpowering, but it just made her look like heaven. Her hair was pulled up but loosely, and onto the other side of the shoulder strap. Loose curls hung down to her bare shoulder. Her earrings were simple, as was the silver she wore around her neck. He smiled and pulled a small box out of his pocket.

"Here," he said, "This is for Hermione. I think I saw her here earlier, could you just give this to her?" She smiled and swatted his arm.

"You shouldn't have," she said accepting the rectangular box and opening it up. Her heart was caught in her throat. The necklace was lovely, it was Y shaped with red Swarovski crystals. There were also earrings that matched, simple post ones that would not overpower her dress.

"Let me," he said softly taking the necklace and taking hers off. He undid the clasp of her chain and slowly traced his finger down her neck for a second. He picked up the necklace in the box and placed it against her neck, brushing his fingers against her skin. He was met with goosebumps as he clasped the chain together. She turned around and looked at him expectantly.

"Thank you, I love it," she said.

"Not to be outdone by myself, but I also got you a corsage, I saw that they actually had poinsettia ones and I just had to get one for you," he said handing her a white box. She smiled.

"Well I guess great minds think alike and all that," she walked over to her fridge and pulled a small box as well. They felt like silly teenagers placing matching flowers on each other, but Hermione felt warm inside. They stood there, her hand on his lapel and his on her wrist for a while.

"We should probably leave," said George, unsure if he'd be able to last another moment in her apartment without ripping her dress off. Hermione nodded, on the same wavelength as he was.

They arrived just on time to the office. There was already a rather sizeable crowd there and George guided Hermione over to the front where Adam and Lavender were standing.

"Hermione!" Lavender exclaimed, "You look absolutely delightful. Where did you get your dress? Was that on the latest fashion line?" Hermione's smile remained plastered to her face but she squeezed George's hand tightly. George held back his urge to laugh, but Hermione could feel him squirming uncomfortably as well. Hermione took one deep breath.

"Oh Lavender, you look absolutely so—so, gorgeous in that gown."

"Oh thank you! It was the latest addition in Bethany Bourgie's line." She said, "I know Bethany personally and she said I just _had_ to have this gown." Before Hermione could respond, George placed his hand on her back and guided her to the table up at front.

"I will talk to you later, looks like they're starting now," Hermione said as nicely as she could manage. George pulled a chair out for her and she sat down as he pushed it in. He took the seat right next to her and apologized in her ear. The Master of Ceremonies welcomed them and began to go into his speech.

"So have you heard from Parvati at all recently?" Lavender asked from across the table. Adam sat down next to Lavender. Hermione shook her head.

"Well she and Won got married," said Lavender, "And they have—"

"Twins, I know," said Hermione, "I ran into Ron." She said this as more of an explanation to George who had raised his eyebrow. "I told you right?"

"Oh right yeah you did," said George, recalling one of their previous conversations.

"They're rather cute," he added to Hermione. "But not nearly as cute as—" He smiled and Hermione smiled as well.

"No one is as cute as her," she replied grinning. George winked and took a sip of his drink. Adam gestured over to George so that the both of them could go towards the podium as the Master of Ceremony began to introduce them.

"And now with further ado, the man who started it all and the man who made the magic happen, Adam Richards and George Weasley," he said. The room broke out into polite applause. Hermione barely paid attention during Adam's speech which was a first for her. She was entranced by George and everything about him. The way he stood, the way he would casually glance over to her and send her a wink. It had only been a few short weeks, but he had reverted so much from the George Weasley she had spoken to on the hospital bed. She sighed and grinned as he went up to the podium to accept his honor.

"Good Evening ladies and gentlemen. I am very honored to be standing here in front of you, I hope all of your are having a great holiday," he began, "I am very excited to accept this position at this company, and I am very excited to be in charge, and look forward to many successful years. Running this company, well not this one in particular, but, a company that brings happiness and joy to people around the world has always been a dream for me and my late brother. He died," he said strongly, voice unwavering, "He died in the battle at Hogwarts, the first Wizarding War. We both owned a shop in Diagon Alley and I'm glad that he could see the success that we had achieved in those dark times.

"But I'm sorry that he could not be around today to see how far this company has come, how far this company will go. So tonight I want to do a couple things, first, I want to stress how I will be running this company in my brother's memory, and secondly, I would like to start a foundation. I have spoken with Mr. Richards about this, and he has indicated his full support. I would like to begin in the Wizarding community and extend it to the rest of the world, but the purpose of the Fred Weasley foundation is to provide young mothers who have nowhere else to go a safe haven and a support system. Whatever they need, a place to stay, help getting to and from the doctors, counseling, early infant care, and help getting up on their feet. I will personally oversee it and make sure that it is a project that our company can back whole heartedly." He finished his speech to a round of thunderous applause. He looked over towards Hermione who had left the table. He craned his neck on the stage and saw a red shadow rush out the door. He handed the podium mike over to Adam and rushed after her.

She was in the powder room, dabbing her eyes, trying to make sure her makeup did not smudge. She had never been moved so much by a speech, and if it was possible, she felt she loved George even more. To think that after going through everything the both of them did, he would think of others in the exact same situation brought him to a whole new level in her eyes.

"Boy you sure do cry a lot," she heard from behind her.

"George," she said, "This is the girls room."

"I know," he replied with a smirk, "But you're the only one in here, right?" Hermione nodded, sniffling back some more tears. He pulled her into his arms and placed one arm on her back and one in her hair, careful not to mess anything up. He did not need to ask if she was okay, because he knew she was, and she did not have to express her gratitude. All that was left unsaid but implied and understood. A while later, he whispered softly.

"We should probably go back," he said, "New boss man should be there and all." Hermione nodded.

"Just give me a second, okay?"

"You hurry up now. I want to show off the most beautiful witch."

"I think Lavender has me beat," said Hermione. George crinkled his nose and grinned.

"She looks like a plastic doll," he said, "Brain of one too." They both laughed and George left Hermione alone. He waited outside, he did not want to be anywhere without her. Moments later, she came out, all evidence of tears gone from her face. He held his arm out.

"Milady," he said. She snaked her arm into the crook of his arm and leaned into his shoulder. They made it back to the banquet hall as the feast was starting. The rest of the evening passed in a delightful haze. Elves caroled in the corner, their little voices sounding like bells. The Christmas tree in the room would relocate depending on how it felt at the moment, usually wherever the best lighting was, so couples dancing would have to be extra conscious about watching out for it. Hermione grinned, truly feeling like for the first time she was having fun.

"Wait," said Hermione as George began to try and find a zipper to her dress as they entered the apartment later that night.

"I can't," he replied huskily, pushing her over to the counter and swinging one of her legs around his hips. She sighed as he kissed her neck and slowly moved up to her jaw.

"I'm literally sewn into this dress," she said.

"Good thing I have a wand," said George taking his out and muttering a spell that would take out the stitching not originally in the dress. He then managed to get the first hook undone and unzip the rest of it. His jacket had been thrown over the sofa and his shirt was in the process of coming off.

"Shower, counter, couch, floor by couch, kitchen floor, bedroom floor, bedroom bed, is there anywhere I won't be cleaning tomorrow?" Hermione asked as she and George lay on the ground by her bed. George groaned and stretched. Hermione laughed a little and sat up on her elbow looking towards him.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," he said again.

"I marvel at your stamina," she said honestly. He sat up and pulled her so that she was straddling his lap.

"I may have a few more goes in me," he said. She put her head in her shoulder.

"Sleep," she moaned, "I have negative goes in me." George chuckled and stood up, carrying her princess style and depositing her on the bed. She giggled as he did, both of them feeling like love struck young adults again.

George knew what was next, but he wanted to come up with the perfect time for it. He wanted to make the family whole, he wanted everything to be perfect. He wanted his old life to mix with his new life. He wanted her. As her breathing calmed down to more even tones, George thought about how perfect she was. He watched her sleep, her chest moving up and down with every breath, her head snuggled onto his arm. He leaned down and kissed her hair tenderly and finally closed his eyes in utter happiness.

~8~

"Toast?" Hermione asked as George walked into the kitchen in nothing but his boxers. She was already dressed and seemed as bright and chirpy as ever. He shook his head and sat down at the bar

"So much alcohol," he complained, "How are you awake?" Hermione smiled and filled a glass with water and handed it to him. He downed it and then held his cup out for some more.

"Because I did not drink nearly as much as you last night." She grinned.

"Why are you dressed?" He asked after he had downed a few more glasses of water.

"I have to go to pick Anna up from dance practice, it's almost one," she grinned. George checked his watch.

"Oh wow, I have never slept that long."

"Well after our night last night, I was expecting you to be out the full day."

"Enjoy that did you?" George asked with a wink. Hermione shrugged.

"Eh," she said, shooting him a grin.

"Eh?" George asked standing up and rounding into the kitchen. "EH?" He wrapped his hand around Hermione's waist. "That's not what you said last night," he whispered huskily into her ear. She turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck as he kissed her deeply, lifting her up onto the countertop.

"I'm going to be late," she whispered, "Wanna come with me?" George sighed.

"I guess so," he said, "I'll go wear some clothes and shower." Hermione bit her lower lip and grinned. She was amazed at how utterly and delightfully easy this was.

(AN) I promised an update and you got one this week. I've loved where this story has come and now we're winding down to one final chapter that kind of mirrors the first one. It's going to be good, and I hope you guys will enjoy it. I will also have an epilogue so for you guys tech. two more chapters :D. Anyways, thank you for coming on this journey with me thus far. Also, review! I love you all!


	18. The One with a Question

"YOU were bloody phenomenal," said George as Anna jumped into his arms after her performance. He handed her a bouquet of flowers.

"Thanks Dad!" She exclaimed as he hugged her tightly. Hermoine was busy taking pictures, but she also managed to get a hug in. "I'm going to go get changed," said Anna with a grin.

"We'll go out to celebrate your very successful opening night," said George happily. She ran off to change and chat with her friends. Hermione squeezed his hand as he suddenly groaned.

"Its Persnickety vonUpperstink," he said softly in Hermione's ear. She spit out the small pastry she was eating into her napkin as Grace's mom arrived.

"Why hello Mia dear," she said pretentiously. Hermione smiled.

"Hello Greta," she said with a wide grin George suspected was not all that genuine.

"And you are—"

"George," he said, holding his hand out, "We met on Saturday."

She pursed her lips and nodded. "Oh yes, you are Georgiana's father." She said. George nodded.

"Why yes, I must be," he said, getting a sharp jab in his side from Hermione.

"The kids were lovely," she said, "Although I do suspect Grace will be getting the leading role next year, she is a very lovely dancer. Oh yes, and your Georgiana was lovely too. She was Clara?" Hermione and George nodded, unable to say anything for fear that both would break out into laughter. After a few more minutes of awkward conversation, she found more productive members of society to mix with.

"Oh my god," he said softly to Hermione, "How can you stand Uppity vonKillmyself?" Hermione giggled.

"Shut up," she said slapping his arm playfully, "I'll explain tonight," she said under her breath.

"Are you excited to go to London?" Hermione asked, re-folding all of the clothes in the suitcase.

"I am," said Anna honestly, "I do want to meet everyone. I hope I remember all of their names." She stretched her arms out and yawned.

"You should go to bed," said Hermione.

"Nah its okay, I'll wait up for Daddy with you," said Anna. Hermione grinned.

"Don't worry about it," she said, as Anna walked towards her bedroom. Anna turned around and smiled, clearly both nervous and excited. Hermione grinned as well. Only moments later, George entered the apartment carrying his many bags.

"Laundry," he admitted rather shamelessly, "Mum insists or else she always worries that I go into the boardrooms smelling like musk."

Hermione scrunched her nose up in mock disgust. George grinned and joined her on the floor. They looked at the tree that they both had hauled in after their ride through the countryside, decorated and happily standing in the cozy living room. Christmas carols played on the radio and wafted over to where Hermione and George sat across from each other, enchanted by each other, talking about their days as they had been together for years and not for a few days.

"I still don't understand why we're flying," said George honestly.

"I just don't want to overwhelm her," said Hermione, "I'll give her a little normalcy and she'll learn slowly." George nodded.

"Wanna dance?" He asked as a slow soft Christmas song came up. Hermione laughed a little.

"George, I still have a lot of packing to do," she said. He pulled her up to her feet and held the small of her back and began to sway, with little protest on her side.

"Shh," he said softly, "Just enjoy the music."

She finally clasped her hand into his and leaned her head onto his chest, enjoying just staying in his arms. She was amazed at how she felt in his arms; she never thought a relationship could be this easy, filled with such joy and laughter. Usually this time of the year was tough for her, being alone on Christmas. Her parents hated the city in the winter so she practically had to force them to take the vacation home. Because of her long hours at the hospital, she would never be able to join them, and so she would always spend Christmas Eve with a bottle of vodka and her friends in the resident's lounge. Anna would join her parents wherever they were. But this year she really wanted to be with her daughter, and Anna always missed her as well. She smiled softly, this was not only one of her first Christmases with Anna, but they were all together as family.

"What are you thinking?" He asked as the song finished and another began. She looked up at him as they stopped dancing.

"I'm just finally happy," she said. "I haven't been happy for the past 10 years, and if someone told me I was going to die tomorrow, I probably wouldn't mind."

"Well me and Anna would," said George with a grin, "But I see what you're saying." He resumed swaying back and forth. For the first time this did not end in a pure physical need for one another, they were both purely content in holding one another, letting the music tell them how to move. They knew they had forever to be with one another and they just allowed that to occur.

"I'm not scared," she said again. "About tomorrow I mean, I'm pretty nervous, but in some way I'm really looking forward to this. All this lying and hiding can finally end and—" George lifted her chin up and she looked up at him with a soft grin.

"I agree with you. But I'm pretty bloody frightened," he laughed.

After a few more songs, they both sat on her couch wrapped in a blanket watching the lights on the Christmas tree twinkle. A small train set magically circled the base of the tree, steam coming out of it periodically. It was the first bit of real magic Anna saw and George had brought it from his store just so that they could all experience it together.

Hermione saw something different in George that she noticed for the first time since they were together before the war. There was a brightness in his eyes, not only did he have a will to live, but he wanted to be alive and he loved that he was. He looked years younger, about to prank the living daylights out of an unsuspecting first year. She did not just see George, and neither did she see the ghost of his dead brother, but she saw the both of them, reunited and happy. She clutched a mug of warm apple cider and took a sip, relishing in her bliss.

"Harry!" Said Ginny, "It's time!" She came thundering down the stairs as Harry raced to feed both Albus Severus and James their dinners.

"What?" He asked.

"I'm—We're going to have our baby," said Ginny standing at the foot of the stairs.

"I'm full!" James cried from his high chair as Albus Severus took a spoon from the bowl in front of him, filled it with mashed potatoes and then promptly dropped it on the floor.

"Well lunch is over," said Harry, pulling out his wand and sending the dishes to the kitchen. Albus Severus began to cry as the spoon dislodged itself from his hand and went over to the sink. Ginny waddled over to Albus and picked him up, attempting to sooth him as Harry ran around the living room like a chicken with his head cut off. Ginny laughed a little as Albus calmed down and lay his head on his mother's shoulder.

"Are you sure we want to have another one?" She asked, helping James down from his seat and clutching his hand. Harry came back armed with winter clothes for the kids.

"Well it's kind of late for that," he said with a laugh. He leaned over and kissed Ginny softly.

"EW!" James yelled from the side. Harry sighed.

"Two and Three year old at the same time," said Ginny, "I knew we would regret having them so close together."

"Let's just hope that we have a girl this time," said Harry kneeling and helping Ginny zip her boots up.

"Thanks," she said. "Did you call Mum?"

"Sent a Patronus over to-everyone really," said Harry with a grin. "They'll join us at the hospital. Sorry we'll miss your Mum's for dinner tonight." Ginny shook her head.

"Bah, knowing her, she'll bring the feast over to—ah!" She clutched her stomach in pain as a contraction hit her. Harry made a note of the time so he could tell the healer how far apart they were. He sat her down at the kitchen table.

"Breathe," he said softly, "One, two, three," he counted off.

"Mommy?" James asked placing a hand her lap and looking up concernedly at her. Ginny smiled a few moments later as the contraction passed.

"When are we leaving?" Ginny asked as Albus Severus raised his arms to be picked up by her.

"Now, if you're ready, I called the ministry and they should be sending over a car soon."

"Harry I could floo," said Ginny.

"No risks!" Said Harry picking up her duffel back and lifting Albus Severus up off of the floor, beginning to wail as Harry took him away from his stuffed animals. Harry picked a polar bear up and handed it to Albus who immediately giggled and hugged the stuffed animal tightly. James now was insisting on being carried as well. Harry finally convinced James that it was cooler to hold hands, and with that they all piled into the car, ready to go off to St. Mungo's.

"Nik," said Ron sternly staring down at his son who had caused a small explosion in the middle of their living room. Parvati rushed down the stairs.

"What happened?" She asked staring at Ron. Ron showed her the scorch on the carpet and Nik yelped and jumped behind the sofa.

"Nik," said Parvati warningly, "What did I tell you about the firecrackers?"

"Bu-col-ouside," Nik whined. As she was about to yell further, Harry's patronus came and announced that Ginny was at the hospital. Ron sighed and looked at Nik. Neil was somewhere around, he knew it, Neil was usually the mastermind behind their plots, but Nik would always take the blame. He swore they were exactly like another pair of pranksters he knew.

Moments later, the entire family was ready to floo to the hospital, coats, gloves, and scarves in hand just in case. Harry was standing in the lobby, clearly exhausted, but he directed them to Ginny's room. Ron clasped his best friend's shoulder comfortingly and Harry smiled as they reached the room where Ginny was.

"How are you doing mate?" Ron asked.

"Hanging in there," he said as Albus Severus, James, Neil, and Nik treated the waiting area as an obstacle course.

"Do you know the sex?" Parvati asked as she kept a watchful eye on the kids. Harry shrugged.

"Nope," he said, "We wanted to be a surprise. Plus if it's another boy I think Ginny and I would actually have heart attacks." Ron laughed, both understanding the terrors of young boys. It was times like this when they were together they missed the third member of their group. Life just seemed empty without the golden trio. Ron still hadn't told Harry that he had seen Hermione merely a few weeks ago. He figured he'd still keep Hermione's secret. But he missed her and knew that Harry did as well.

"Did I ever mention that I hate flying?" George asked as they landed. Hermione grinned.

"Nope, so do I," she admitted, "But we're finally here." She stretched her arms out and stood up as the seatbelt sign turned off. Anna was going over her notes that she took when George described his family in full detail.

"So let me get this straight. I have Grandma Molly and Grandpa Arthur," she said, George nodded. "And then the oldest is Uncle Bill and he's married to Aunt Fleur and they have three kids, Victoire is my age, and Dominique is five, and Louis is 3, right?"

"Yes," said Hermione.

"Okay and next is Uncle Charlie, but he doesn't have any kids, and he's not married either," said Anna.

"Eternal bachelor," said George, chuckling.

"Next is Uncle Percy, and he's married to Aunt Audrey, and they have two kids, Molly and Lucy, Molly is five, and Lucy was just born."

"Correct," said George, with a grin, taking their carryon bags down from the overhead bins.

"And then its you, and mommy and me," said Anna.

"Correctamundo," said Hermione. George stared at her with shock in his eyes. "I will not be saying that again," said Hermione. Anna and George both laughed as they stood in line and got ready to get off the plane.

"Okay so next it's Uncle Ronald who is married to Aunt Parvati, and they have two kids, Nikhil and Neil, and they are both two," said Anna. George turned and nodded. "And lastly its Aunt Ginny who's married to Uncle Harry and James is three, Albus Severus is two, and she's going to have another one…?" Anna asked.

"You are absolutely right," said George. Anna felt both proud and excited to meet her giant family.

They went to the small flat that George kept in London whenever he would return. He had sold the one above his shop, instead keeping one closer to the Burrow so that he could go back to his family whenever he wanted. He could not stand staying in his old bedroom he used to share with Fred, it still haunted him. This flat was decorated similar to his large apartment in New York, the bare necessities. Hermione sighed and sat down on the couch, her stomach doing back flips and somersaults.

"It's going to be okay," George told her, his hand on her knee. "Okay, so there's a slight glitch in our plans." He said softly. Hermione looked up at him worriedly.

"What?" She asked.

"Ginny went into labor, so I suspect everyone will be going to the hospital today. I think everyone is taking shifts to go and it's going to be a real hectic night. So mum is at home now, so I think we should do it now. I asked Ronald to explain the situation to everyone else, we can answer questions later, but Parvati is coming by to pick Anna up soon if that's okay, and then we can just talk to Molly and then just ease her into everything. Of course if this is all alright with you. I talked to Anna and she said she's fine with it." He looked down at his feet. Hermione smiled and placed a hand atop George's.

"It's great," she said, as there was a rapping on the door. George left a dazed Hermione on the couch as Anna was mentally quizzing herself about her rather giant family.

"Hey," she heard Parvati's voice in the hall, "Is Anna here?" She asked. Hermione walked to the entrance and leaned on the doorframe. Parvati looked great, she had her hair held back in a bun and was still in her jacket.

"Hermione!" She exclaimed and rushed forward to hug her surprised former classmate.

"Hey," said Hermione. "How are you?"

"I'm pretty great," said Parvati, "But exhausted." Hermione smiled.

"I heard you have a set of two year old twin boys."

"Yeah," said Parvati letting out a giant sigh, "Neil and Nikhil, they're sweet as can be, but well, you know," she said laughing towards George. He smiled back.

"All downhill from here," he winked.

"And you must be Anna," said Parvati as Anna came out into the foyer with her overnight bag and her winter things.

"And you're Aunt Parvati?" She asked. Parvati nodded and grinned and laughed as Anna held out her hand to shake it.

"So your daddy tells me you've never used Floo before," she said. Anna shook her head. "Well it's not too hard, but I will show you how to do it, but remember you have to talk clearly or else it won't work." She said with a grin. She turned to Hermione and George who both stood by the door. George stepped forward almost immediately to show her where the fireplace was. Moments later after Parvati had used the floo to tell them that Anna was safe at the hospital, Hermione and George turned to each other. He enveloped her in a tight hug and they both made their way apparating to his household.

_Now or never_, thought Hermione as there was side splitting pain and she was transported in front of the house she had called a home for so many summers.

"So this has been where you've been for the past ten years?" Molly asked blankly after George had told everything there was to be said, including how he had forgiven her and had understood her reasoning. Arthur sat beside Molly, also dumbstruck by the revelation.

"Yeah," said George, speaking up because Hermione's eyes seemed to be glued to the floor. She hardly said a thing, tears streaming down her face onto her jeans.

"George, you may leave, I would like to speak to Hermione alone," said Molly.

"Mum—but—"

"No buts," Arthur said, "you may go to St. Mungo's, go see your niece."

"I really think I should—"

"Go to St. Mungos, now," said Molly with a severe tone. George gave Hermione a loose pat on the shoulder in support. She merely stiffened at this contact, unable to actually process anything going on. Everything seemed to occur so quickly, but she knew that in order for anything to move forward, this conversation was inevitable. The two women and Arthur sat in the living room in almost complete silence, save for the merry crackling of the fireplace.

"I'm insulted," Molly said after a while, tiredness evident in her voice. Hermione said nothing. "I'm only insulted because for seven years I gave you everything you ever wanted for, especially because you were new to our world. You were not like my daughter, you were my daughter. But after all these years I am only seeing that you never thought of Arthur and I as your own, so where did we go wrong?" She asked, her voice slightly breaking.

"I-I-I was an idiot," said Hermione, shaking. She began to sob a little bit. "I thought I could handle it." She cried. Molly turned to Arthur and asked him to bring Hermione a glass of water. After he left, she stood up and walked over to where Hermione was sitting and pulled Hermione into her arms.

"There there now," she said. "True, what you did was utterly idiotic, and insensitive, I also must remember how emotionally fragile you were at that point, so soon after the war, after everything that happened, after what Harry had described with what you went through, I suppose you could have handled everything a whole lot worse. But Hermione, I just sincerely wish you had come to me, or someone, even your own parents. There were better ways to handle this than running away."

"Are you angry with me?" Hermione asked. Molly pulled her into another hug.

"Yes," she said honestly, "But I will never stop loving you." She said parting from Hermione and looking her straight in the eye. She wiped away Hermione's tears as Arthur came in with a glass of water.

"Thank you," Hermione said, taking a grateful sip.

"Hermione," said Arthur, "I suppose you should know that you should never be afraid to come to either of us from now on if you have a problem. I mean I know we're older, but we'll always try and help, especially now that well, we're grandparents to a girl we've never met." Hermione stood up and hugged Arthur tightly. He hugged her as well.

"See that wasn't so terrifying now was it?" Molly asked Hermione. Hermione laughed. The three of them then decided to go to St. Mungo's and join the rest of the family (who had hopefully been briefed on the situation already).

"Everyone," said Harry walking into the waiting room," It's a girl." Smiles abounded as everyone jumped up at once to provide congratulations. As everyone filed in slowly to see Ginny and the baby, Harry noticed Hermione sitting at a bit of a distance from everyone else. He immediately sat beside her.

"Hey," he said softly.

"Hey," said Hermione equally softly.

"I'm sorry," said Harry. Hermione looked up, the same words about to emerge from her lips.

"What?" She asked.

"I must have been a rubbish friend. I guess for seven years it was about me and Voldemort, and I always thought of everyone else as supporting characters in the story of my life. I should have watched out for you," he said honestly. Hermione placed her hand on her friend's shoulder.

"No," she said firmly, "I should have come to you and talked to you. But I did not want to give you any unhappiness, seriously you were so much in love with Ginny and happy with her at the time, I didn't really want to get in the way of that." With that, the two of them hugged one another, hoping that this would re-open the channel of conversation between the two of them. While Harry loved that Ron was in his life, Hermione provided sanity and reason, something Ginny also provided, but well, she was Hermione. And that's what he told her.

Hermione was shocked at how drama-less this whole process was. Not only was she forgiven, but also she and Anna were accepted into the lives of the Weasley family rather easily. She had expected tears and shouting but was only met by disappointment in her lack of faith in those she called family. It seemed that—

"Well looks like we need you just as much as you need us," said George sitting down beside her in a chair a little distance from Ginny's bed. Everyone else was crowded around her. "Welcome home." He grinned and kissed her hand. Hermione giggled as Ron turned and looked at her in mock jealousy.

"Hi Grandma," said Anna as George introduced her to Molly. Hermione stood in the hallway a little behind them, nervously biting her lower lip. But the minute Molly laid eyes on the little girl—she fell in love.

"Georgiana Elizabeth Granger," said Hermione, "that's her name."

"It's beautiful," said Molly, "just like her." She leaned down slowly and pulled the young girl into a bone-crushing hug. Arthur stood beside Molly and patted Anna on the head.

"Well Georgiana," said Arthur, "Welcome to our family." Anna grinned shyly. She liked her grandparents, they were completely different from her other grandparents. She smiled as her Grandpa Arthur pulled her into a hug next. Hermione felt George's hand wrap around her waist, and she wrapped an arm around him, leaning on his chest.

"It's funny," said Hermione as she Harry and Ron sat in the hospital cafeteria eating dinner together.

"What's funny?" Ron asked stuffing his mouth full of pudding. Hermione laughed and pointed at him.

"How after 10 years everything can be so different, and still the same."

"Mental, that one," said Ron referring to Hermione and nudging Harry who sat there regarding the two of them pensively. The three of them began to laugh.

"You know," said Harry, "I think this is the first time we've all been together and had a laugh since the war, well since before the war…" He trailed off. The other two sat there and thought about what he said and then agreed.

"You're right," said Hermione, "I never realized how much I missed this." They sat there in somewhat silence.

"So you and George," said Ron. Hermione nodded.

"He's bloody lucky to have you," he said. Hermione smiled, she was afraid this would be a sore topic but Ron had matured in ways that mattered.

"Lily Ginevra Potter," said Hermione slowly, looking into the crib. It was late and Ginny had gone to sleep finally after she and Hermione spent a while catching up. Most everyone had left to go to bed; George took Anna back to the burrow, and would come back later for Hermione. Lily began to cry softly, unable to sleep, and unwilling to wake Ginny, she picked the little bundle up and held her close to her chest, singing softly.

Ginny was awake, she had drifted off for a couple seconds when she heard the baby cry. She saw Hermione slowly pick Lily up and cradle her back to sleep and smiled. She missed her friend dearly. Though they would only really chat over the summers, she did look up to Hermione and really felt as if they were sisters. She sat up slowly, she was still in pain and very bloated, but she knew it would calm down.

"Hey," she said softly looking at Hermione, who sat down in the rocking chair and finally got Lily to stop crying. Hermione smiled, standing up and putting Lily in the crib. A mediwitch came by a second later to take Lily into the natal unit to monitor her for the rest of the night. "Well," said Ginny, "I think we know who her godmother is." She grinned. Hermione's eyes widened.

"What?" She asked, "No, I mean, it would be an honor, but after all that happened, you want me?" She asked. Ginny chuckled a little.

"Of course I want you silly, you're like a sister to me. So what it's been ten years, if George and Ron can forgive you, I would be a bitch not to."

Hermione grinned and went to Ginny's bedside. Ginny clasped Hermione's hand tightly. Tears began to stream down her face again. Ginny cocked her head in confusion.

"It's just—I can't believe I got you guys so wrong. I through for sure you would disown me, and now I do not know why I was so scared to begin with."

"Well you know what happens when you assume," Ginny said as Hermione laughed, "But in all honesty, you can't take back what happened. Live your life with permanent quill strokes, you can put one down, but its tricky to take it back. You can cover it up with a charm, but it never went away."

"When did you become so smart?"

"Always have been," said Ginny.

"I'm going to do it," said George to Bill that night, sitting on the couch, waiting for Hermione to get back from seeing Ginny.

"I would say it's too soon, but this is just a weird order," said Bill with a grin. He was holding Louis in his lap and Dominique lay peacefully in the bassinet by his armchair. Louis periodically would jump down from Bill's lap and head for the fireplace and every time he would come back when Bill would snap.

« Louis, non, retourne! » He said. « Louis, je te parle que cette cheminée est très dangereuse. »

« Je suis très désolée papa, » Louis said sadly. He walked, or waddled rather, to the Christmas tree and sat in front looking woefully at the gifts.

"Do you guys even speak English in the house?" George asked. Bill nodded.

"They do everything in English pretty much, so we're trying to make sure they're all bilingual. Fleur says that it'd be good for them." He shrugged. George smiled. Charlie then came in followed by Percy and then Ron and they all sat down in the living room.

"Do what?" Charlie asked, taking a seat by George. His arm was wrapped in a sling.

"What's that from?" George asked.

"Norwegian Ridgeback. At least we think that's what it is, her scales are too big to be a Norwegian Ridgeback, and if the tests come back positive, it might even be an Argentinean Poisonclaw, which means we've found one of two in the wild." His eyes lit up.

"I read your article in the Prophet," said Percy after a while, "Heard you might become a columnist for them, congratulations. I hear that Dragon Week was incredibly popular."

"Only time I actually wanted to read the Prophet," Bill admitted.

"Me too," said Ron.

"Wait hold on, as much as I love you guys, why did we change the bloody subject?" Charlie asked turning to George. "What are you going to do?"

George grinned and reached into his pocket and pulled out a box. He opened it and a Tiffany's diamond shone out against a silver band.

"Blimey," said Bill, taking it from George and inspecting the ring.

"Muggle ring, got it from a store in Manhattan, but I had Madame Almaz in Hogsmeade do the engraving."

"The way you look tonight," said Bill slowly reading the engraving. George smiled, he hoped Hermione remembered the dance in the shop so many years ago, the first time he fell in love with her, the first time he kissed her. He was snapped out of his reverie when Hermione burst in through the front door, trying not to get any of the snow from the blizzard inside. Bill quickly popped the ring in his mouth as George hid the box.

"Hey guys," she said as she entered the living room.

"Hey," everyone chorused except Bill. To make it look less suspicious he went over to Louis and picked him up, waving at Hermione as he did.

"You look exhausted," said George shooting daggers at Bill. "Why don't you go to bed?" He asked. Hermione walked past him and sat down on the arm of the couch.

"Nah it's okay, I'd like to catch up with everyone," she turned to Charlie.

"So how are you?" She asked Charlie who was bursting, trying to hold in his thunderous laugh. George was livid under his seemingly calm exterior. Ron had to excuse himself, citing something about a bathroom as he left, completely red faced. Somewhere as Bill left to go to the kitchen with Louis in his arms, George heard the water tap running and then a sponge furiously scrubbing. He sighed a little hoping Hermione wasn't catching on. He was impressed, however, Percy managed to keep a still face the whole time.

"I'm good," said Charlie, regaining his composure, "Bit of a snafu with the dragons, nothing I can't handle." He grinned.

"Are you seeing anyone?" Hermione asked. Charlie shook his head, but an odd sort of calmness came over his face, as if he was thinking about something else.

"And what about you Percy?" Hermione asked turning to the former ministry man.

"Oh I'm good, Audrey and I just had our second baby Lucy," he grinned, "They're all sleeping upstairs." He pointed upwards. "I'm at the Ministry for Magical Education now, I'm the Minister of Education, wasn't that difficult, brought Hogwart's back to where it was under Dumbledore, made some minor changes, it's a fairly easy job." He grinned and yawned. "Well it was lovely chatting, but I'm afraid that I should tuck in. Good night all," he said.

"Why yes, it was lovely, I do hope that we have the chance of speaking about mundane every day activities another time," said George clearly mocking his older brother. Percy gave him a somewhat "mean" glare and then proceeded to retire.

Bill returned a few moments later as Hermione and Charlie talked about dragons. "Kids are asleep, so I should be off to bed soon," he said, pulling George into a tight hug. He then managed to slip the ring into George's pocket surreptitiously and then went back upstairs. Since Hermione's back was turned to the whole thing, George thought he was out of the woods.

"Goodnight Bill," she said as he kissed her on the cheek.

She George and Charlie ended up having a very enjoyable conversation that night about his life in Romania, her life in America, George's life in America. They even told him the whole story. After a while Hermione cocked her head.

"You are seeing someone, aren't you Charlie?" She asked him seriously as George went to brew some more coffee for all of them. Charlie grinned a little.

"Yeah," he said, "someone."

"Who is it?"

"Arnaud," he whispered, looking behind her and shaking his head.

"Oh…" she said with a moment of realization, "They don't…?"

"No," he said simply.

"How long?" She asked.

"Six years," said Charlie. Hermione put her hand on his and grinned.

"Why did you tell me?" She asked.

"I guess you just know how to keep a secret. And it's really not like I've wanted to keep it from them, its just—well, I don't know how they'd react. I know there's nothing wrong with what I'm doing, I love him, and I don't care what the world says, I just, I don't want to hurt my family with what I consider to be right." He said grimly. Hermione placed a hand on his.

"No," she said, "I had to learn that the hard way. Life isn't just some melodrama where everyone makes a big deal out of everything. I mean, you are entitled to be happy and I think that's what everyone cares about in the end. I kept the truth hidden for so long, and now I've missed out on so much, and George has as well. I'm sure your family would want to be included in your life, and if Arnaud makes you happy, then they should also be happy.

"I know how hard it is to come clean," Hermione continued, "But it's like ripping off some plaster, it could be difficult and painful, but the faster you do it, the easier it is."

"I don't know," said Charlie.

"She's right," said George entering finally.

"How long have you been there?" Charlie asked.

"If someone makes you happy, I don't give a flying bludger who it is. I mean I was kind of worried you liked dragons, but Charlie, you're my big brother. You know I'll love you no matter what." George sat down on the other side of Charlie who had his head in his hands.

"You love him right?" Said Hermione. Charlie nodded.

"That's all that should matter then," George said, finishing her thought.

"And anyways, all that being said—"

"You've still got us," said George, once again completing her sentence.

"I think I'm going to bed," said Charlie, kissing Hermione on the cheek. "You're right, both of you." He grinned and hugged George as well.

"We're alone," said George, grinning as Hermione leaned in to kiss him.

"Finally," she said closing her eyes.

"Wait, he said softly, I have something I want to ask you…" He said nervously scratching the back of his head. Hermione looked up as he knelt on the floor. Her heart caught in her throat.

"No," she said softly, in shock.

"Yes," he said with a smile, holding out a box. Her heart caught in her throat and she took the little box in her hand and slowly opened it, mouth slightly agape. Suddenly a stream of glitter came out and hit her square in the face.

"GEORGE WEASLEY!" She yelled looking around blindly for a towel as George began to laugh hysterically clutching his sides. He conjured up a towel and handed it to her and she wiped her face. When she put the towel down, George was back on one knee.

"Hermione," he said softly looking up at her.

"Yes George?" She asked.

"You've got some glitter on your nose," he said calmly tying his shoelaces and standing up. She groaned.

"I'm going to bed." She said.

"Wait," said George, "You dropped something." Hermione turned about to pick it up when she saw that George was on one knee again. This time was different, however; he was holding a ring.

"Oh George," she said walking over to him.

"Hermione, I know we've only been together for a week, but I've loved you forever. You are smart, brilliant, and the best mother to our daughter. You've never thought about yourself, and you've only thought about us. I love you and I want to be with you forever. I don't want this to be some rehearsed boring speech. The thing is, I've never believed in soul mates. I don't believe I was destined to be with you or we'd always end up together, but I think that we can work and have worked and you are the only one I want to be in my life for the rest of it. I want to wake up next to you every morning, and I want to spend every Christmas with you. We can live in New York, we can move back here, I just know that I want you and that's it."

"Shut up," said Hermione with a grin. "If you make me say 'you had me at hello' it may ruin the moment." George grinned.

"You mean?"

"Yes—yes, a million times yes," Hermione said as George rushed over to her and caught her in a kiss.

"I love you," he said softly.

"I love you," she answered.

(A/N) Omg thank you so much for reading this. There is one more epilogue left, but in terms of the story, its over. So thank you so much for reading. I'll have the epilogue up for before Christmas. Seriously, this past year has been phenomenal, thank you so much for sticking with me. I've wanted to write this story for a very long time now, and I'm so glad that I actually finished it. Keep me on your author alerts, I have a Draco/Ginny one coming up and another George/Hermione that should be VERY different from this one. I should start on those soon ish, so I hope you keep me in your alerts. AHH I can't believe there's one more part left. I love you all! :)


	19. The One with the Epilogue

Present day

"Hey," said Edward Granger coming in through the door. Hermione was staring into the mirror. "It's time." He said softly. Hermione turned around and smiled. He grinned as well.

"You look amazing," he said softly a tear rolling down his face. "I can't believe my baby is all grown up." He hugged her. She smiled and put her arm in his. "Are you ready?" He asked. Hermione grinned.

"Let's go," she said.

As she made the slow march down the stairs of the hall down to where she would walk down the aisle, she thought about the past two years. When push came to shove, she decided it would be better to wait a while during the engagement, get to know George better. She wished she could wave her magic wand and get married a few weeks after he proposed, but they both wanted to make sure that it was perfect. Anna had already started at Hogwarts and she enjoyed it immensely. In fact, she, Ted, and Victoire had become very close friends.

Christmas 2010 became the best possible choice for the wedding, Anna would be home, and they could have it exactly two years after George's 'hilarious' proposal. As Hermione came to this thought, they had both reached the doorway. Ginny gave Hermione a small wave as she and Ron walked down the aisle together. Finally Hermione took a deep breath and set foot on the plush.

George felt his heart beat around his throat as she made her way down the aisle. Her gown captured her beauty and her eyes sparkled. The past two years of planning had flown by. They had sold both of their apartments in New York and moved upstate to a more sprawling place with a yard. He could floo in to work every day, and she found a job (after obtaining her healer's license) in a local magical hospital. Anna decided she wanted to go to Hogwarts and Percy pulled some strings to have her attend as an international student.

George loved their life together, the only way he could be happier was to complete the ceremony they had been painstakingly preparing for over the last few years. Finally Hermione and her father arrived and he relinquished Hermione's arm to George.

"Take care of her," said Edward.

"I intend to," said George with utmost seriousness. Hermione smiled as he winked at her after her father had sat down. The ceremony began but neither of them listened to the minster, they only stared deeply into each other's eyes, and before they knew it—

"I Hermione, take thee George," she said after the minister's prompt.

"I George take thee, Hermione," he said softly. Ron then handed George two rings.

"With this ring, I thee wed," said Hermione and George echoed, both placing the rings on each other's fingers.

"George and Hermione have made their declarations and it gives me great pleasure to declare them husband and wife," said the Minister with a grin, and before he could say anything else, George dipped Hermione in a rather elaborate kiss. The entire room filled into thunderous applause and what they had taken two long painstaking years to plan was over in a matter of about a few minutes.

Grinning, they both stepped down from the altar and headed down the carpet to all of their friends and well-wishers applauding them. Hermione waved to Jenny who was standing there with Michael, grinning as he had his arm around her. She then saw Charlie and Arnaud hand in hand also waving. He winked and grinned. She grinned back and waved with equal fervor.

"Thank you," said Charlie referring to Hermione's support as they danced together at the reception. Over the past two years, they had grown incredibly close to one another, realizing that the two of them were not so different, both so caring about others; they did not stop to consider themselves.

"For what?" Hermione asked, "Now don't answer. You don't have to thank me for anything Charlie." She grinned. He grinned in return and kissed her chastely on the lips. She grinned and saw George wink at her as he sat at the main table chatting with Harry.

_Two Years Ago_

"_Wait, I don't understand," said Molly softly, Arthur sat with his head in his hands while Charlie told them about Arnaud and his secret relationship. _

"_There's not much to understand," Charlie said standing out of his armchair and looking out the window. _

"_Muriel sent me an owl when she went on holiday in Romania—said you were having dinner with another man," said Molly, "I told her you must have had other friends, or she must have been mistaken—I have had drinks with girls, doesn't mean that I am—you're not?"_

"_Mum—"_

"_I feel like you've never told me anything. Bill has always been close to me, as has Percy, and Fred and George had each other, Ron had Harry and Ginny was close to me, so I never. Merlin—" she said walking over to the fireplace, creating distance between herself and Charlie. _

"_The nights got really lonely Mum, and it's not just that, but it gets to you. Studying dragons, the mortality rate isn't exactly low in my field—and he's really handsome." _

"_Is he—nice?" Arthur asked, finally speaking up, his voice cracking. Charlie bit his lip and stared straight down towards the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw both Hermione and George sitting on the steps providing him the utmost moral support. They both grinned and flashed him a thumbs up sign. He turned back to his parents. _

"_It's weird. It's not that he's a man—it's just him. And only him. If you paraded around Gilderoy Lockhart magazines, it wouldn't affect me, but there's something about him that I just—and I don't even know what it is that we are, all I know is that I love him. So—I didn't want to make a big deal about it before because it wasn't anything. But it kills me that you don't know him—both of you, because he makes me happier than I ever thought I could be," he said his voice cracking at the end. _

"_My baby," Molly cried rushing forward and hugging Charlie tightly. "I don't care who it is, if you do not bring him to dinner next week, I will march out to Romania and drag him here myself." He smiled and wiped a tear from his mum's eyes as he did the same. Arthur came up next and hugged his son. _

"_Why do you kids never learn that secrets aren't the way to be?" Arthur asked, "You know well enough that the consequences of not coming clean are far worse than being honest. I thought your mum and I taught you that."_

"_I know," said Charlie, not too keen about being lectured by his father as an adult of 36, but he felt a sort of catharsis as his dad took him into a hug and he felt part of his family once more. He left the room and Hermione and George still sat there, side-by-side, grins on their face. Bill was behind them, and the rest of the family followed him, Ginny carrying a baby bundle. _

"_Guess you all heard, huh?" Charlie asked. They all laughed and hugged him, excited to meet Arnaud. _

"No seriously," said Charlie as they both snapped out of similar daydreams, "it was all because of you that I could come clean. That Arnaud became my life, and well, I've found such a close sister in you." He kissed her hand. Hermione felt a small blush creep up her face from pure joy.

vvvvvv

"Put icing on her cheek!" Ron exclaimed from the side as George went to feed her the cake. Hermione shot Ron a death glare as not only did George put icing on her face, he smushed the cake into her face met by a thunderous roar of laughter.

"George!" She exclaimed, taking a napkin from Ginny's hand to wipe it off.

"Let me," said George reaching over and taking her by the small of her back and licking the cake off of her face, finally capturing her lips in a kiss. There were several wolf whistles from everyone gathered around the table.

"Ew," commented Anna standing towards the back with Victoire and Ted. Ted laughed. Anna had escaped the first round of cake tasting and picture taking, but when the fight started, she and her friends had retreated.

"Hey," said a small voice behind Anna.

"Hey," she said turning around, it was a 12 year old boy about her age, she had seen him around at Hogwarts.

"I've seen you around Hogwarts," he said. Anna laughed.

"Yeah, I'm Anna Weasley," she grinned.

"Erich, Erich Wood, I think our parents went to school together," he said. "Anyways, its weird I got put in Ravenclaw, my dad was definitely a Gryffindor, but you're just in one of my classes and I just wanted to say hi," he said shyly putting a hand out.

"Hey," Anna grinned shaking his hand awkwardly. She noticed Ted and Victoire had slipped away. "We're in Charms right?" She asked. He nodded, excited she could place him. They spent the rest of the evening speaking to each other about their classes, and he related to her his favorite pranks that she had made famous.

"I see a budding romance," said George with a grin as he and Hermione had resumed dancing on the floor. She looked over at the two of them.

"Oh that's Oliver's son," she said happily, "I do like him."

They continued dancing peacefully with one another, finally content at beginning their life together forever.

000-0000

_Several weeks later_

"And you are sure you're ready for term to begin again?" Hermione asked checking Anna's trunk for the nth time.

"Yes mom," she groaned, tying a letter to the leg of her owl and watching him fly away, her lovely spotted owl with its letter to Erich.

"Now don't send me any more of those owls saying you want me to send you some more parchment or ink, or that you left _Advanced Charms Second Grade_ just on your desk. Your dad and I will be in Hawaii for the next few weeks, so we can only send a few owls, and even they have to be the long distance ones unfortunately."

"Yes mom," Anna groaned again. She had grown a lot taller in the past two years. She was almost her mum's height at this point and she was not even finished growing yet. She did well enough at school. By George's standards she was exceeding all of h is expectations, and Hermione only found her scores passable. But all in all, she was doing very well and managed to keep her jokes outside of the classroom. Hermione finally was content with the progress of things and kissed Anna on the forehead.

"Do write every night though," she said, "I love hearing from you about school. And be sure to tell me more about this Erich boy, he sounds lovely. Does he play quidditch?"

"Yeah, but he's still on the bench to play as a Chaser," Anna grinned, "He really wants to play. But we promised to be civil with each other during house tournaments."

"Do you _like _him?" George asked, leaning on the doorjamb. Hermione and Anna both turned and giggled. "Mum says dinner is ready," he added. The three of them made their way down to dinner and enjoyed Molly's cooking. After the holidays, they just stayed in London, and since both of them were leaving for their honeymoon and could only schedule a portkey for 8 in the morning (9 at night in Hawaii), so they could not see her off, but she had grown so close to the Weasley family that she did not mind. She only spent summers in New York nowadays, winter holidays were spent at the Burrow, and Hermione and George usually had to return to New York earlier because of work commitments.

vvvvvvvvv

They spent their honeymoon on the beautiful island of Maui. They were staying at a small resort that was hidden from muggles with the same enchantments as Hogwarts and there was a small lagoon that reached out to the sea. Their honeymoon was one that was different from most couples'. Usually this would be how they spent their honeymoons, in a cabana drinking cocktails and having copious amounts of sex. But and Hermione and George decided not to go that route, they had plenty of time for that, as it were. But instead, they decided to try everything.

The first week they spent hiking all around various volcanoes and travelling throughout the island, learning more about the culture. The second week they devoted to getting to know the ocean.

"Seriously?" George asked stealing the hardbound from Hermione's hands.

"What?" Hermione asked innocently.

"_Surfing for dummies?"_ he scoffed. "Are you bloody kidding me?"

"I just want to be prepared," Hermione shrugged.

"No," said George as they found the surfboards they had rented out for the day. "Just watch me and learn."

"I read you're not supposed to do that," said Hermione as they were paddling out to meet the waves and George began to stand up.

"Oh really?" George asked. Moments later, a wave approached, and with ease, George stood on his board while Hermione wobbled a little uneasily on hers. She had cast a charm that would ensure that she would not fall off, and eventually she caught the hang of it, though not as easily as her husband who had taken it as he had taken to riding a broom.

"This place is beautiful," said Hermione after three weeks of lying in the sun on the beach

"You're beautiful," George said rolling on top of her and kissing her. "Mrs. Weasley." he said softly kissing her neck.

vvvvvvvvvvvvv

6 years later

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"I can't believe we're giving our daughter away," Hermione said arranging her hair. George wrapped his arms around her pregnant stomach and leaned down on her shoulder.

"Seemed just yesterday she began Hogwarts," he admitted, "And now she's studying Potions of all things, who would have thought?" Hermione turned around and kissed him softly on his mouth.

"Daddy!" A voice came from the doorway and a little boy flung himself into George's arms.

"Freddy, what did I tell you about chocolate?" Hermione asked their four year old as she pulled out her wand to charm the stains away. "Who gave it to you?"

"Aunt Audrey," he answered honestly.

"It's time," Victoire announced to Hermione and George. Hermione placed her hand on George's and headed over to where Erich's brother would escort her down the aisle. Freddy and Erich's nice walked down the aisle first, her with flowers, and he with both rings. The crowd broke into a simultaneous "awww" as they went down. Then Hermione headed down the aisle, escorted by Erich's older brother. Molly and Arthur sat at the front, their wrinkled faces full of joy as they watched the first grandchild get married. When Anna walked down the aisle, placing her arm in George's, Hermione could not help but cry.

Although he met her later in her life, he had become more than a father should have ever been, and she could not have asked for a more perfect and beautiful life. Erich was very kind to her. Although he and Anna merely started out as friends, they had quickly gone to dating, and then realized they could not live without each other. Hermione grinned, although Anna was a surprise, she brought Hermione more joy than she ever thought she could live with.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Molly Weasley passed away only weeks after Marianne Weasley, the youngest grandchild was wed to Christopher Brandon, a muggle she had met when she was working at a nonprofit group for children who were to attend Hogwarts but were brought up in an orphanage, thus they could avoid everything that happened with Tom Riddle by monitoring magic and providing counseling to those children. Hermione and George had both retired at this point. Freddy Weasley was married to Lila Boehm, a girl who had attended Durmstrang.

After a few months of grief, Arthur followed his dear wife and passed away as well. Everyone was incredibly saddened to see him go. They had outlived their generation, and now Hermione and the rest of them could not believe that they had gone from being the youngest to the oldest. When Marianne was married, Freddy and Lila were expecting their first child while Anna and Erich not only had two of their own, but were also adopting twins from Cambodia.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

After all the kids had left, Hermione, George and the rest of his family made the Burrow into an assisted living center for themselves and anyone who had lived through the war. It was mostly so that they would not bother the kids. Anna and Erich decided to live in England, nearby and all the grandchildren of the Weasleys were closeby. Erich himself was the healing director of the community, much to Anna's joy. It became a place of joy and laughter, full of everyone Hermione and George had gone to school with.

There were houses, similar to when they were in school, but that was only in name. The entire community was made up of anyone who desired to be there, and they made it in Dumbledore's name.

"How are you mum?" Anna asked. Perdita sat by her mum playing wizard's chess with George.

"I'm good," said Hermione pulling out a tray of baked goods. "How's work?" She asked Anna.

"Fantastic," Anna replied honestly, "Did you read my latest article? I mean since they moved me up to editor in chief, I don't get to write as much, but I just did a huge piece on—"

"The Muggle-Wizard relations and the first annual expo, I read all of it," said Hermione proudly.

"Yeah, It's even on the fridge," George said, "Checkmate. Perdita, you shouldn't be losing to me, seriously, I'm almost 70, you're 5"

"15," Perdita said exasperatedly.

"Where are the twins and Orlando?" Hermione asked Anna who had rushed to the fridge where magnet pictures of all of their grandchildren held her article up.

"They're just playing outside with Lily's kids possibly," said Anna checking out the window. There was a playground on the Hufflepuff pavilion that kids could play at.

"CHECKMATE!" Perdita yelled, "gotcha Gramps!" She laughed and hugged George tightly. Hermione smiled as she saw the scene before her. This was how most of the weekends in the summer went, and after the kids went to Hogwarts, she and George would look after the twins, George Jr and Horatio. They were excited to start Hogwarts in a few years.

vvvvvvvvv

"Did you ever think we'd get here?" Harry asked as Hermione and Ron sat down at his condo for tea. Ron's eyes were vacant as he stared at the wall. It had been a few months since Parvati died. He was pretty inconsolable. Hermione placed her hand on his. He gripped it and smiled in her direction, his smile not reaching his eyes. Hermione placed her head tenderly on his shoulder.

"It was her time mate," said Harry with a small grin. It took him a longer time to get from the kitchen to the living room. His hands shook slightly as he placed the tea down on the table and sat on the other side of Ron.

"Thank you," Ron said softly. They had already been through tragedy. Bill had passed away only the previous year and Charlie followed a few years later. Arnaud and Fleur both died a few weeks after their beloved. Percy was still alive, but he was confined to his bed, old age claiming most of his frail body. Their grandchildren had pretty much grown up at this point, and they knew that the end was finally in sight. George was doing well, as active as a man of almost 85 could be. His mind was slipping a little, sometimes he would imagine people being there that had passed away years ago. Ginny and Harry were good, and as much as Hermione and Harry hated to admit it, Ron was slipping faster and faster.

Merely a few weeks later they were by Ron's bedside. The healers took Ginny and George aside to speak of his hospice services. He refused to eat, refused to drink anything—he was finished. Hermione felt tears run down her face as she clung onto Ron's hand. He smiled at her sadly.

"I will miss you so much," Hermione managed to choke out. Neil and Nik were sitting on the other side of Ron's bed seeking comfort in their wives. Their children, both grown also sat by Ron's side clutching tears. They left later that night, promising to come back in the morning, and pretty soon George and Ginny both went back to their condos leaving Harry and Hermione at Ron's side.

"Butterflies," he said softly and happily.

"What?" Hermione asked tearfully. Harry grinned, his hand shaking as he held Ron's other hand.

"They're here," said Ron, "I knew they'd come. I'm following the butterflies." He said full of joy, closing his eyes for the last time. Although Hermione knew it was inevitable, she felt pain at his passing. He was her first love, one whom she had never stopped loving, even if it was a different kind of love.

"It was our second year," said Harry, "Hagrid said to follow the spiders. You were petrified. Ron asked me simply, 'why Harry? Why does it always have to be follow the spiders—why can't we just follow the butterflies? Bloody git." He laughed. He walked slowly over to where Hermione was and hugged her tightly.

It was like this that they had to say goodbye to so many of their friends as the community home was filled with new people, people Hermione could no longer recognize. It became just her, George, Harry, and Ginny.

vvvvvvvvv

"You know," said George one night. "I never thought I'd get old." Hermione laughed and leaned into his embrace. "No I'm serious!" He exclaimed as she began to read _The Daily Prophet_ looking for more stories by Anna.

"What, you thought you'd be young and debonair your whole life?" Hermione asked. George nodded.

"At least I kept my hair, even if it is grey," he laughed. Hermione laughed as well.

"That is true, I may have had to leave you if you went bald," she laughed. George laughed.

vvvvvvvvvvvvv

"George," said Harry softly as George stared at her lifeless body.

"No," he whispered softly, "leave me alone."

"George, the nurse wants you to go home with her," he said. George felt a mediwitch help him out of his chair and on to a wheel chair as she would take him back to the Gryffindor pavilion to his condo. He stared blankly at the floor. He couldn't believe she was gone, that a simple cough could turn into something so much worse. She had been through so much from the war, she was already much older than her years, but he thought they had more time together.

"Fifty years was not enough," George said sadly. Harry grinned as he walked by the wheelchair slowly. Ginny held Harry up, helping him walk through the mild Parkinson's.

"A hundred wouldn't have been either," said Ginny sadly. They made it down to the waiting room where Anna, Freddy, and Marianne were waiting. The three of them relieved Harry and Ginny and took George back to the condo. The four of them spent that night with a few firewhiskeys talking about Hermione and how much they missed her. Tears turned to laughter, and laughter turned back to sobbing.

"I can't believe she's gone," said Anna softly, "I feel like it was just yesterday she came into my room and told me I was getting a father." She stared down at her feet as George pulled her into a hug.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"Hey Forge," Fred said to George when he came home after Hermione's funeral. He was still young, looked better than ever. George smiled and sat down on the couch slowly.

"Hey Gred," he said. "You look way too good."

"I know, I always said I was the better looking twin." Fred sat down on the couch beside George.

"What are you doing here?" George asked. It was not accusatory, he was genuinely curious.

"Remember what I said last time we spoke?" Fred asked. George nodded, and a smile broke out on his age worn face. "You've had a beautiful life." He said honestly.

"Yeah," George agreed, "I'm glad I stayed alive. I mean, my life turned out to be so very different from what I thought it would have been, but I've been pretty blessed."

"You have," Fred agreed. "Who would have thought that this was the life you would have had with Hermione Granger?"

"Not me," said George. "What's the afterlife like?"

"Well everyone is here now. We're still waiting on Ginny, but she'll be joining us soon, I think. It's pretty phenomenal though, you'll be less saintlike for sure."

"No more holey head?" George asked hopefully, "I mean I love magical hearing aides, but I hate depending on one ear to hear everything. It seems so bloody one sided."

"You leave making jokes to me," said Fred with a laugh. George punched him in the side lightly.

"Oi!" Said Fred, "That hurt!"

"Wimp," George muttered.

"So are you ready?" Fred asked. George nodded.

"I think so," he said, "I mean, Anna is at a good place in her life. I would have loved to see Perdita getting married, but I really can't leave the facility anymore. So I guess I really am ready."

"Great," said Fred jumping up and holding his hand out. George reached out to hold his hand and was shocked when the wrinkles were gone and his hand looked around seventy years younger. He stood up and saw his old body sitting on the couch, head back, eyes closed peacefully.

"I thought it would be more painful," George said. Fred shrugged.

"Only takes a moment," Fred admitted, "I mean you'd think the killing curse would hurt, but I just felt nothing, saw you for a few seconds and was dragged—well here." He said.

"It's the shop," said George. Fred grinned and nodded.

"Yep," he said. George laughed as he saw the rest of his family sans Harry and Ginny wandering the store. He greeted every one, but could not find the one person he was looking for.

"No," he whispered. He turned to Fred. "Where is-?"

"Your wife?" A voice asked behind him. He closed his eyes and felt tears streaming down his face.

"Well technically it's until death do you part," said Fred from the side, smirking, "So my boy is _technically_ single." George turned around and there was Hermione, looking as she did when they got married so many years ago. He ran towards her and picked her up, kissing her to Fred's thunderous applause.

"Hey," he said softly to Hermione.

"What took you so long?" She asked him.

"Well I had to make sure your funeral was perfect silly," he said. He stared down at his feet. "That is a sentence I never thought I'd say." Hermione laughed.

"Well I had to spend the last three weeks, weeks? I don't know time is different here. But I had to spend a long time with your twin."

"Oi!" Fred shouted, walking over towards them. "Okay, so now I have to go into the schpiel to you. Now that you've seen what we have here, and you've experienced part of the afterlife, before we leave the shop you can either choose to come with us, or return as a ghost—"

"I'm staying," said George with a grin.

"Thought you would twin," said Fred. The three of them then headed towards the door where a warm bright glow was waiting for him. He felt Hermione's hand in his own, and he placed his arm around his twin's and headed into the light.

(A/N) IT'S OVER! I always wanted to end with the three of them. Harry and Ginny I would imagine would join them a few days later, but this is the way I wanted the epilogue to end. This story has taken me exactly ONE YEAR to write. Like, I put my first update exactly one year ago, and now is the very last one. I'm so sorry there were so many gaps between my writings, but really thank you for sticking with me thus far. Clicking the complete button will make me sad, but very happy at the same time. I definitely had trouble writing this epilogue, it made me sad but happy and hopeful at the same time.

I'd like to thank my beautiful reviewers who have stuck with me for multiple chapters:

TheLocket, you're one of my best friends and regular reviewers, I'm so happy you stuck with me, both I an E.G. thank you immensely

Sasajataka: You're frikin amazing, and I'm glad you're here to read my stuff!

I'd also like to thank Binka Fudge, kutner love, Tecumsah Dean, WhiteTigerXOXO, Alex 11215, ilovefieryredheads, Debbie-lou, Sampdoria, Readerforlife, Sergeant Wellington, Nutters4Potter, ForTheLoveOfNargles, little-miss-beth, Brass Camera, wanderluster, amrawo, Emmiline-Zahara-Rose, Lets go skydiving, Gred and Forge rule, I'm Obsessed With Fred Weasley, against the clock, DontDieFred, PlainJane, Areej, Fabiana Gideon-Avea Wester, I'm Not Psychotic. I'm Gifted, Koa, gemma smells like apple cake, Avanell.

Also I want to thank everyone who put this as a favorite story, and put this on ther story alerts, and every one of you who has read it. I too have read many stories and haven't reviewed, and I like them fine, so its totally okay, I get each email notification and it makes me smile like no other.

I'm so sorry this author's note is so super long, but I really really really love you guys. Thank you! Please please please continue to review, keep me on author alerts, I'm starting the new one, VERY soon and it will be a George/Hermione one. I love y'all!


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